Friendship Lost
by Orider
Summary: A new kid says the wrong thing and splits up our favorite heroes. What will happen? I do this for the reviews, so don't hold back.
1. The New Guy

Friendship Lost

I will say this now, and only now I do not own Kim Possible (duh)

"Hurry up, Kim!" cried an exasperated Ron, practically pulling his hair out. "You know that Barkin will be substituting the class we're late for, and I've had enough detentions to last me a lifetime, so I don't need anymore."

Kim's alarm clock didn't go off that morning, so she was running late. "Chill, Ron. I'm rarely the reason you're late, anyway. You're the one that slows us down," Kim responded as she was running down the stairs. "I'm ready, let's go."

Ron and Kim were rushing towards the school. Ron was tripping all-over himself as he ran. He looked close to tears. "Faster, Kim! School is starting soon."

"Ron, incase you haven't noticed, I'm in front. You're the one holding us up," Kim said indignantly.

"I don't need this stress right now!"

They entered the school just as the bell rang. Ron screamed in horror. "We're late! All is lost, all is lost!"

They ran to their classroom, and just as Ron predicted, Mr. Barkin was substituting. He turned to them and gave them his patented 'busted' stare. "Stoppable, Possible! So glad you could join us, I know you'll join me for detention this afternoon"

They both sheepishly went to their seats, ignoring the snickering heard all around them. "As I was saying, before I was… _interrupted,_ we have a new student today. Would you please stand up, Mr. Chris …" Mr. Barkin looked at his attendance sheet and hesitated before he said, "I'm sorry; your last name is smudged."

A boy sitting in the middle classroom stoop up, he had a slight smirk on his face. "It doesn't matter, my name is a little difficult to pronounce; most people fail to pronounce it properly."

Mr. Barkin looked slightly flabbergasted at Chris' response, but quickly recovered. "Yes, umm… welcome. Anyway, let's get to work." The class zoned him out as he began teaching.

"That new kid sure has a lot of guts, huh?" Ron said with his usual grin.

Kim looked at Ron disapprovingly. "Most likely it was stupidity, not guts. He probably doesn't have enough brain-power to power a light bulb"

Ron remained silent for the rest of the class, partly because he knew Kim was tweaked, and partly because he didn't have a clue what Barkin was talking about.

Next, Kim and Ron had Gym, and they, once again had the joy of Mr. Barkin's company. "All right, people. Listen up! Today we will be doing some acrobatics. I want to see what everybody can do. Who would like to go first?"

Bonnie gave Kim her evil smirk, then she raised her hand and put on her teachers pet voice and eagerly said "I will, I will."

Bonnie got into position, than ran at the setup trampoline and jumped on it. She went soaring through the air and did a somersault and gave 10.0 landing. She then gave a smug curtsy, daring anybody to try and top her. And Kim was willing to try.

She began just as Bonnie did and when she was in the air she also did a somersault, but when she landed, she landed on her hands and did a flip and also gave a 10.0 landing. She also gave a curtsy and smirked at Bonnie.

Mr. Barkin did not look impressed. "Well done ladies, who would like to go next," he said looking around. When nobody raised their hand, Mr. Barkin looked at Chris. He made an unusual facial-expression which, people who did not know him, might assume it was a smile. "Why don't we let the new student try?"

Chris just looked at Barkin, shrugged and said "Why not?"

He merely turned to the trampoline and ran towards it. Just before he reached he jumped and did a flip, landed on the trampoline and flew into the air. He went higher than Kim and Bonnie put together, as he went up he did two flips and caught onto a low hanging trapeze. He swung on it and at one point went all the way around. He then let go and went even higher, did more flips and started coming down to earth and then finally landed as if he had never left the ground. Everybody just stared in awe. He then calmly turned to Mr. Barkin and said "Am I done now?"

Authors note: This is my first story, so please be gentle. I am also not going to update anymore unless I get somebody(s) to check my work. If you would like to, email me. And if anyone just wants me to tell them the whole plot you can email me as well. P.S. I know the title sucks


	2. Friendship Lost

The rest class went by uneventfully. Chris had just casually sat down, closed his eyes and seemed to be deep in thought. Everybody knew they would not be able to top the feats of any of the first three competitors so they did not even try. Ron was more impressed by Chris' performance than anybody else. He just kept going on about it. Kim did not share Ron's enthusiasm.

"I just can't believe he was able to do that! He just went so high; it was almost as if he was flying. And you thought he was an idiot," Ron said to Kim for the 50th time.

Kim was losing her patience. "First of all, doing a bunch of tricks while in the air does not make you intelligent, it actually helps my case. He probably spent his entire life doing that, barely scraping by in school. Secondly, you've already retold his 'amazing feat'," she said using air-quotes "more times than I care to count. So just be quite and let's go to lunch."

"Ok, relax. No need to go all crazy. There had to be someone better than you."

"HE IS NOT BETTER THAN ME!" Kim yelled, finally losing her cool "I just didn't try my hardest."

"Okay, okay. I believe you," Ron said with both fear and amusement.

The two got to the cafeteria and Kim finally began relaxing again. They got their lunch and went to their usual table. Just then Chris walked in and Kim tensed up. He then bought his lunch and looked around for a place to sit. Before Kim could stop him, Ron raised his hand and called to him.

"Chris! You can sit here if you like." Chris smiled and walked over towards them.

Ron turned back to Kim and he noticed her aggravated look. Ron realized his blunder too late. Chris got to their table and sat down.

"Thanks, man," he said politely. "It can be really awkward sitting down at a table you weren't invited to, and it can humiliating sitting at a table all alone."

"No problem," Ron said, taking the compliment gracefully. "You can always sit with us if you don't have anywhere else to go"

Once again, Ron had let his kindness and eagerness to please, get the better of him. He realized and slowly turned toward Kim. Her eyes were almost burning with anger, and they gave a look that said 'death would be relief'. Kim then turned towards Chris and gave a somewhat forced smile.

"So Chris," she said with a false tone "you were really good in gym today. It must have taken a lot of effort to get that good."

"Yeah it did," said Chris, either not hearing or ignoring Kim's tone.

"That must affect your studies."

"Not really. I actually do really well in school. I'm sort of a genius"

Kim raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "If you're a genius, then why do you go to school?" she asked a little smugly.

"What am I supposed to do? You ever try sitting around at home all day doing nothing. I can't stand it. And I am not getting a job. I'm only a kid; I don't want to be surrounded by mid-life crises."

"We have a ten-year old genius who helps us out on missions"

"Missions? What do you do during you're free time?"

"I'm Kim Possible; you haven't ever seen a picture of me in the newspaper?"

"I don't read the paper much. If you're Kim Possible," he turned to Ron, "you must be Ron Stoppable."

Ron smiled, pleased that someone associated him Kim Possible; teen hero. "That's my name."

Chris smiled "I've wanted to meet you."

"You have?" Ron said with a look of disbelief.

"Of course, I've heard of Kim Possible, but I kept hearing different names for the…sidekick or partner?" He asked both Kim and Ron.

They both looked at each other, not quite sure what to say.

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, so finally I got tired of the different names and did some research, and no picture registered, your name was all I got and a little info. You're the distraction right?"

"Yep," Ron replied, "Why?"

No reason, really. It is just that… You distract 40, 50 guys usually?"

"Somewhere around there I guess"

"Then why aren't you ever mentioned as an important member. You have to survive against 40 guys while Kim only has to fight the 'villain'," he turned to Kim "No offense"

Kim bit her lip and quietly responded "None taken."

Ron was quick to defend her "The villain usually is well trained in fighting techniques"

Chris looked unmoved. "She still only has to beat a person with 2 arms and 2 legs right? You have to survive against dozens. I heard some even have muscle enhancers. I'm sorry; I just think you deserve a little more glory.

"I have to go and find my locker. I have had to carry my books around by hand all day." And with a smile and a wave goodbye, he left.

Kim looked more irritated than ever, and Ron seemed to be thinking about something.

Kim just burst, "The nerve of that guy. 'She still only has to beat a person with 2 arms and 2 legs'. I would like to see him beat Shego. Can you believe him Ron? Ron? RON!

Ron slowly looked up at her, looked into her eyes and said the most shocking thing of his life "Kim, shut…up. He gave an opinion. He has that right. And he isn't wrong."

Kim gawked at him. "WHAT? What do you mean 'he isn't wrong'? He said what I do is overrated!"

Ron remained unflinching. "He didn't say what you do was overrated, he said what _I_ do is _under_rated."

"What do you mean? You distract idiotic thugs. That isn't difficult."

Ron looked offended "Do you have any idea what it is like running away from a bunch of guys that would kill you if they catch you? No! You have no idea. You are trained multiple forms of kung-fu. I have to learn from the wrestling channel."

"Then take some lessons from a professional."

"You know nobody has the patience to train me."

"You have never asked me"

"Yes, I have. You said 'No problem. I'll call you later and discuss it'. You never did. I mentioned it to you a few days later and you just told me you'll do it when we get the chance. Not once afterwards did you mention it."

"What are you trying to say, Ron?" said Kim, with a look to kill.

"I'm saying you take me for granted. I'm your back up plan, your reserve, the second string. If Mankey comes along, you'd ditch me in a heartbeat," Ron said with a look to match.

"I would not! I care for you just as much as I care for him."

"Is that so? Lets flashback, shall we? It is the Monday after the dance. The janitor comes into the supply closet, that you locked me in, and sees me there, starving. After convincing him I was alright, I went home. My mom saw me and said I had better get ready for school. She thought I was off on a mission with you. She didn't know I was missing. And neither did you. When you find out, you apologized a few times. I got a week worth of detention because I hadn't done my homework for any of my classes, and you didn't say anything. Then you bought me a naco after school. Like that was supposed to make up for it. Then the next day came, and guess what, you acted like nothing happened, like everything was just _dandy_.

"A few weeks ago, you accidentally spill water on Mankey and ruin his homework. You come close to tears. You told his teacher what you had done, and then for the next week you were doing everything possible to help him. You even called in a few favors." Ron's tone then turned sarcastic "But you obviously care for me more because you didn't buy him a naco."

Kim looked shocked "Th-That's not fair to throw that in my face"

"Was it fair that I got locked in a closet for the entire weekend without food? Is it fair that I had to find out that nobody even knew I was missing, not my parents, not you? Rufus is probably the only one that would have noticed, and he was in my pocket. And, let's face it, I've raised him since he was just a baby and he would have noticed if his feeder was gone. No Kim, maybe it isn't fair that I'm throwing the dance incident in your face, but I found out the hard way that life isn't fair, it is cruel and heartless."

"You are just pissed at me because I have a life that doesn't involve you. And you are pissed off at yourself for not having a life that doesn't involve me."

Ron's face totally calmed. He just looked at Kim with pain in his eyes. "You're right, Kim. I don't have a life that doesn't involve you. But I'll tell you what, I'm going to take the life I have now and change it into a life without you"

And with that, he walked off. And Kim sat there with a look of complete and utter astonishment.


	3. Inspiration

Ron and Kim ignored each other for the rest of the day. They didn't speak to each other. They didn't sit near each other. They didn't even look at each other. The entire school seemed to feel the tension, though not quite sure where it was coming from. Classes were quite and orderly, nobody wanted to be the one to set off the time-bomb that was lurking amongst them.

The end of the day finally came and everybody was glad to get out. Everyone had failed to notice the distance between Kim and Ron. Kim immediately stormed home, wanting to put as much distance between her and Ron.

Ron went to his usual sanctuary, Bueno Nacho. It was the one place he felt that he was in complete control, and not someone's lackey. When he arrived he found Chris, who seemed not to notice him, was there sitting at a table in the middle of the room. Ron felt he needed someone to talk to so he orders his food, and sat with Chris.

"Oh! Hey, Ron," Chris said in apparent shock, "Wassup?"

"Kim and I kind of had an argument and we left on pretty bad terms," Ron said with just a small hint of remorse in his voice.

"Argued? About what? I thought you two shared the same thoughts."

"It was about how she gets all the glory while I get all the blame. Normally I just expect that from her and except it, but I just couldn't take it any more."

"You guys didn't have this argument because of what I said, did you?"

"Sort of. I don't want you to feel responsible, though. This was always under the surface and was bound to come out; you just sped up the process."

"Ahh man, I'm really sorry."

"Don't be. Everything you said was true. She does get all the glory and I'm in the background, and I do just as much work, if not more. If something goes wrong, it is my fault, when everything goes smoothly, she acts as if she did it all on her own," Ron said, apparently enjoying the release of all these emotions. "She doesn't even mention me on her website. It's all 'She can do anything' and all sort of info about her. And everybody knows about Wade because he makes the sight and contacts all of her favors. And Rufus is known because he is cute and intelligent."

"Speaking of which; where is the little guy?"

"He is at a research facility. Some scientists wanted to do some blood test and brain scans to see why he is so intelligent. I have a guarantee they won't harm him or dissect him. But let's get back to the issue at hand: the egotistical Kim."

"Ron, we can discuss Kim and insult her all we want, but what will that solve?"

"It'll make me feel better," Ron said sheepishly.

"Why don't you just talk to her? Maybe you guys can work it out."

"What if I don't want to work it out? She said that I was just jealous because I don't have a life with out her."

"Is that true?"

"It shouldn't matter; a friend should not say something like that to another friend. It would be like saying to a person in a wheelchair that they are jealous of you because you have full use of you legs."

"I'm sorry that this has happened Ron. Here," Chris said as he took out some money, "Buy yourself another naco, go home and just relax."

"Thanks Chris," said Ron, hesitantly taking the money, "you're a nice guy."

"No problem, man," He said with half a smile. "I'm happy to help out a friend. Unfortunately, I have to go. Bye." And with that he walked out.

Ron followed Chris' advice and bought another naco. What he didn't know was that Chris had to leave because he knew he needed to speak with Kim. He arrived at Kim's house and her father answered the door.

"Can I help you he?" Mr. Possible said politely.

"I'm looking for Kim," Chris said with a smile on his face, wanting to appear as friendly as possible.

"Are you a boyfriend?" he asked, his voice becoming suspicious and accusing.

"Nope, just a friend that's a boy," he said with a slight chuckle, hoping to lighten the mood. It failed.

"Alright, come in. But don't try anything"

"Of course not. I wouldn't dream of it"

He was let in and Mr. Possible told him how to get to Kim's room. He followed the man's instructions and went upstairs. When he arrived at Kim's door he saw it stood slightly ajar and just pushed it open. Kim, sitting at her desk, trying to do her homework, heard the door open.

"What?" she said with annoyance and turned to face Chris. Her voice and expression turned to anger. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"Sorry," Chris said in a voice that didn't mean it. "I'm not used to knocking. I walk into any room at my place whenever I feel." And with that he just walked in.

"I wanted to talk about what happened between you and Ron after I left today"

"Come to admire your handiwork?"

"No, trying to undo it."

"This is your all fault, you know? Ron would never have done this if it weren't for you."

"Really? He told me this was all under the surface and that I just sped up the process."

"He said that? That little… He such a little baby."

"He would probably forgive you if you apologies."

"If _I_ apologies? This is his entire fault, and it is his issue. If he wants to stop being friends because he wants more glory, then fine. And just for the record; every time he gets attention, it goes straight to his head. Remind him of that. Now get out of my house!" She said her temper rising.

"I'm gone," and with that he was out of her room and quickly left her house, not wanting to face her wrath.

The next day at school, Ron and Chris bumped into each other.

"Hey man," Chris said with a sympathetic tone in his voice. "How's it goin'?"

"Better than yesterday, thanks," Ron replied, sounding overly chipper. "I'm thinking about talking to Kim."

"I would advise against that. She is really upset with you."

"How do you know?"

"That is why I left yesterday, to speak to her. I wanted to smooth things over. She did not like that. She spoke to me as if I planned all this."

"Yeah, she also has anger issues. Anytime things went my way, she would get all upset."

"Really? She said that any time you got attention, it all went to your head."

"That may be slightly true, but it was only because she would get all the attention and I was stuck in her shadow. So sue me if I feel starved!"

"What could you have done? Start your own crime fighting organization? Though, you two sound more like rivals, than partners, or colleagues, if you prefer."

"Right, there was noth-…create my own crime fighting organization? That is not a bad idea."

"I wasn't serious!"

"Maybe not, but it is a good idea."

"I thought you couldn't fight."

"I can't, but we have vacation next week and I know a place I can learn. I can go there now since I no longer have to answer to _her_."

"What about a team?"

"First I'm going to learn how to fight, then I'll come up with a team." And with he marched off, deep in thought. Chris Just stood there.

"Geese," he said quietly, "how strong of a friendship could that have been if they break up after a few off-hand comments?"

Authors note: This may not be my best chapter, but that is because I do not have a proof-reader. I would still like one. Next chapter Ron will be going to Yamanuchi. I don't know if I will have a long detailed chapter of his visit of just a paragraph. Give me you opinions in your reviews. If I do write a long chapter, I either need a proof-reader or expect you guys to go easy on me in you reviews for that chapter.


	4. Training

Ron's seemed to change that week. He was still the amusing nice guy, but he seemed more focused and determined. He did his homework; correctly, he paid attention in class and willingly answered questions. He also stopped his Mad Dog routine. And everybody knew why.

Somehow the entire school found out that he and Kim stopped being friends. There were rumors everywhere. Some claimed that Ron had proclaimed his love for Kim and she rejected him. Others said Ron got a girlfriend and Kim got jealous. The rumors continued to grow more and more extravagant, and it did nothing for Kim's and Ron's relationship. In fact, it pissed them off even more hearing rumors where they looked pathetic and needy.

Finally the end of the week came and Ron was in his room, packing for his trip to Japan. Chris was there with him trying to talk some sense into him.

"C'mon," Chris whined, "At least tell me where you are going."

"No," Ron said firmly, "You'll either follow me or find some way to convince me to come home."

"This is just kind of stupid, though. You shouldn't even go."

"God! My parents were easier to convince than this. Why can't you just support me?"

"Because I am somewhat responsible and if anything happens it will be my fault."

"Chris, I am going and nothing you say can stop me!" Ron said, a tiny bit tweaked.

"Okay, okay. I'll stop. At least let me give you a ride to the airport to make up for it."

"Works for me," Ron said with a grin.

Ron finished packing and they both went downstairs.

"I've never actually seen your car, have I?" Ron asked.

"Nope," Chris responded with a slight smirk.

They both went outside and Ron looked around and found the street deserted. "Where is it?"

Chris smiled and held up his keys and pushed a button. "It'll be here in a sec."

"Do you have some guy deliver it whenever you push that button?" Ron asked in awe.

"You remember when I said I was a genius? I wasn't exaggerating."

Then suddenly a silver Porsche came around the corner, going way past the speed limit. And the driver seat was empty. Ron gawked in amazement.

"I've created an autopilot system that analyzes the entire area within a 50 mile radius, including cars, pedestrians, and traffic," Chris said with pride.

Ron just continued to stare. "You designed it? Is it legal?"

"It isn't illegal. Now hop in. I don't want you blaming me for missing your plane."

Ron got in the car, Chris jumped in on the other side and they were off. They never went slower than 90 mph. Ron wasn't sure whether he should be thrilled by the experience or terrified. In the end he went with paralyzing fear. It took them 10 minutes to do a 40 minute drive. When they got out Ron was shaking slightly. Chris just chuckled.

"You took it better than most. I remember one time, there was this jock. Completely fearless, I took him for a ride. He wet himself, vomited and cried. It was pathetic. And you've also proven yourself to me. If you could handle that, you can handle anything."

Ron gave a weak smile.

"Here," Ron said, handing Chris a set of keys. "These are for my moped. See if you can't install that autopilot and maybe make it go faster."

Chris took the keys and smiled, "I'll see what I can do. Your moped is kind of crappy," Chris gave Ron is hand. "Take care, man. See you when you get back"

"I am going to succeed, Chris. I will not let anything stop me."

"I know you won't, man."

Then Ron turned around and went into the terminal.

Ron arrived 8 hours later in Japan and made his way towards Yamanuchi. He did not know how to contact anybody there so they did not know he was coming. He prayed for a warm welcome. When he got to the mountain he once had to climb, he found he did not dread the climb. He actually looked forward to the challenge. He then began climbing.

An hour later he found himself at the spot he collapsed at last time. He smiled fondly at the memory, took a deep breath and went behind the waterfall. When he saw the ninja school again he felt the same amazement he felt the first time. He walked forward, over the rope bridge. When he got onto the grounds it looked deserted. He glanced around; saw and heard nothing. And then, out of the blue, he was surrounded by people in black gis.

Ron got into fighting position, ready for a fight, when all of a sudden one of the ninjas stepped forward.

"Ron-san?" asked a familiar female voice.

Ron relaxed, "Hey Yori, hope I didn't drop in at a bad time."

"No, I am just shocked to see you. Is anything wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong. I just want to complete my training. I don't wish to be a mediocre fighter anymore. I want to begin embracing my destiny."

"Come, we must speak to Sensei. He will decide if you may continue your training here." At that Yori and Ron headed towards Sensei's chambers. The rest of the ninjas went back to their training.

"Sensei," Ron and Yori said as they entered bowing.

"Stoppable-san. I had not expected you to return to us so soon." Sensei said in a voice that sounded like shock; an uncommon tone for Sensei to use.

"Certain circumstances have changed. The only thing preventing me from returning was Kim Possible, and we have parted ways," Ron said bitterly.

"This place is not a refuge to hide from your troubles. It is a place to learn how to protect the world from evil."

"And that is why I came. I want to become a tool against evil. Not a sidekick but a real hero. I am not running away, I am trying to reach my full potential. I can not do that without your aid. I beg of you to train me."

"Very well, I will train you. But you are not ready to fulfill your destiny. And I will not train you to master you Mystical Monkey Powers."

"I understand Sensei. I hope one day you think I am ready."

"Go and rest, tomorrow your training will begin."

And with that Yori and Ron left. Yori gave Ron the room he stayed in last time.

"Thanks, Yori. It's great to see you again," said Ron, feeling his exhaustion setting in.

"It is good to see you again Ron-san. I hope you will stay with us longer this time."

"Vacation lasts three weeks. I will stay till at least then, unless Sensei sends me home earlier."

"I am glad. Good night, Ron-san."

"Good night, Yori," Ron said as Yori left. He lay down and was asleep 27 seconds later.

The next morning Ron woke up long before the 'alarm' sounded. He decided to start the morning with a nice refreshing walk. When he got back he found Sensei waiting for him.

"I am glad to see we will no longer have to repair doors," said Sensei in an amused tone.

"I am no longer going to be that clumsy oaf. I am completely dedicated to my training. And don't forget, last time I didn't know I was going to a secret ninja school."

"Let us move on. Yori tells me your vacation lasts three weeks. During this time, we will work on your balance, your agility and your fighting technique. This week we will work on your balance."

It was then Ron noticed that they were standing at the top of a lagoon a circle of stepping stones.

"What's this?" asked Ron.

"This is your training for balance," said Sensei.

"What do I do?"

"You continue to run on these rocks and everyday the rocks will become smaller. You will also do this while wearing this," Sensei responded while holding up a set of clothes apparently filled with some sort of heavy substance.

"Works for me," Ron said and put on the clothes. "These are not that heavy"

"I am glad you think so. Begin."

Ron jumped on the first rock, and barely kept his balance. He then jumped onto the next. And then the next, and the next, then all of a sudden he slips and falls into the water. He tries to get up but finds he is a lot heavier.

He looks at Sensei confused. "The clothes are filled with sand. If you get them wet they will get heavier. The longer you stay out of the water the lighter it will get. This will also increase your stamina."

"How long do I keep this up?" Ron asked

"You will continue with this exercise until I come to get you."

Ron got out of the water and continued the exercise. Sensei watched for a little while and then he left. Ron continued all day. He fell many times and never stayed dry. It was well after 9:00pm before Sensei came for him. He then made Ron do 50 push-ups and 100 curl-ups. And then he was sent to bed. He fell asleep as he collapsed on the mat. Sensei watched him walk away, he then heard Yori come up beside him.

"How did he do?" Yori asked

"He is dedicated, but he is not ready to become the Monkey Master. I hope this may strengthen him, but I am concerned that this will lead him down a dark path similar to Monkey Fist's."

"I do not believe that would happen. If Ron can not follow the good path then no man can."

"I hope you are right."

Back in Middleton, Kim was freshly irked. Someone had been foolish enough to bring up the separation between her and Ron. The repercussions were not pretty. Let's just say the guy needed a change of underwear.

Kim went to Bueno Nacho to cool down. She hadn't seen Ron in a while and she wanted to see how much he had suffered since their little quarrel. She also thought he deserved a chance to apologies to her for being so stupid. When she got there she didn't see him, but, much to her displeasure, she saw Chris. Her first thought was to leave, but she then decided to vent a little on anger on him.

"Well, well. If it isn't Chris," she said, not hiding her condescending tone. "Where's Ron?"

"Not with me," Chris said, paying no attention to her tone, "and if he didn't tell you where he went, then it is my place to tell you." He added with a slight smirk.

"Don't you get arrogant with me! I know kung fu. I know six different ways to break your legs with one hand."

"Right. You're the best fighter. No one is a better fighter than you. And you're also the best acrobat. No one can do acrobatics better than you, unless I'm forgetting someone. Oh yes, me! You may be a better fighter than me, but don't forget you thought you were a better acrobat than me. Do you want to take the chance of being humiliated again?"

Kim didn't know what to do. She was fairly certain that she could beat him, but his confidence made her hesitant.

"You're not worth my time," she said finally turning away.

"Oh, thank goodness," Chris said with obvious sarcasm, "I was so scared. Thank you for being so merciful."

Kim ignored him, not willing to risk embarrassment, but she swore to herself that she would get him back.

Ron woke up, feeling sore all over, a feeling he had not felt since the first time he came to Yamanuchi. He got up, got dressed and went to get some breakfast from the lady with the fast tray.

"This time I _will_ get food from you, tray lady," Ron said when he arrived. "I've been practicing for this day. I am able to catch Rufus with chopsticks now, so this will be no problem."

The food lady just stared at him blankly. Ron took the chopsticks and attacked the tray. The lady moved with lightning reflexes and Ron never even came close.

"Ah man. I'm going to starve here, again!" Ron said exasperated.

"Do not worry Ron-san," said Yori appearing behind him, "you will not starve; you just will not be full."

"Thanks, that is _soooo_ much more comforting."

"You and your American-style jokes," she giggling, "Come; you must continue your training."

"Right; the stone hopping. Let's go."

When they got there Ron noticed the stones were smaller and the weighted clothes seemed heavier.

"Is it just me, or does this seem harder?" Ron said wearily.

"We must continue to make it harder or else you will never go beyond your limits," Yori responded knowingly.

"That's great, but how am I supposed to go beyond my limits on an empty stomach?"

"There are fish in the lagoon."

"How do I cook them, Ms. Know-it-all?"

"Sushi is a delicacy here"

"I knew you guys would force that stuff on me one day."

"Enjoy your training Ron-san."

"I'll enjoy it like a hangnail."

Ron then put on the outfit and started jumping on the small rocks. He found it was easier today than it was yesterday, despite the smaller rocks and the heavier weights. He even caught a fish, though he did not find it such a delicious eating a fish, and he had not enjoyed killing it either. Despite everything, Ron felt he did well that day. He only fell 3 times.

Just like the day before, Sensei came to get him after dark, and just like the day before, Sensei forced him to do 50 push-ups and 100 curl-ups. And just like the day before, Ron fell asleep before he hit the mat.

This continued on for the entire week. The rocks got smaller, the weights got heavier and Sensei told him to stop later. And everyday Ron got better and better, after four days he was able to jump on the rocks and catch fish without falling. Then, on the eighth day of training, Ron went towards the lagoon, but then Sensei stopped him.

"Sensei, I must get to training. Today the rocks will probably be the size of my big toe," said Ron.

"No, Stoppable-san, today you are finished with your training for balance," said Sensei, "We now move on to agility. Come with me."

Authors Note: I would just like to thank Isumo 1489 for the help with proof reading. I would also like to say that I will accept flames. Any criticism is appreciated.


	5. Training 2

Ron followed Sensei into an open field. There he saw what looked like an obstacle-course.

"Sensei, what is this place?" Ron asked with some confusion.

"This is where you will improve your agility," Sensei replied calmly.

"On an obstacle course? I thought you guys would come up with some creative way of improving my agility. This seems a little orthodox for you guys."

"If you will follow me I will show you how wrong you are about this school being orthodox."

Then Sensei just walked toward the obstacle course and Ron followed. Sensei stopped by what looked like a ladder lying on the ground.

"This will be part of your daily exercise," Sensei said, pointing to the ladder.

"What am I supposed to do?" Ron asked, puzzled, "Just step in the gaps? That's it?"

"Yes, that is it. Step through the gaps as quickly as possible."

"Alright, but I don't see how this proves that you guys are unorthodox."

Ron then tensed up and prepared himself. He stepped into the first gap and quickly lifted his other foot to put into the next gap. Then all of a sudden the ladder rose up about a foot and Ron, instead of stepping into the gap, got a sore shin.

"OWWWW! That really hurt!" Ron whined, "You could have warned me."

"That would orthodox, would it not?" Sensei said with amusement, "Yamanuchi is not orthodox."

"Okay, I get it. You guys are not orthodox. So this will be my training for the next week?"

"This will be half of your training, the other half is over here," said Sensei, walking away from the ladder.

Sensei stopped at a section of mud which had hoops which seemed to just hover in the air. Ron was not sure how they did that, but, knowing Yamanuchi, he was sure there was some weird yet logical explanation.

"So, what am I supposed to do here?" Ron asked.

"You are to do the same thing as you did with the ladder, jump in and out of the hoops as quickly as possible."

"Alright then."

Ron was ready this time. He wasn't going to hurt his shins again. He quickly jumped into a hoop and then he rapidly raised his foot to an overly cautious height and jumped, but then he felt the hoop tighten around the foot that was still in the hoop. Losing his balance, he landed face first into the mud.

"What happened?" Ron asked, bewildered.

"You didn't move fast enough," Sensei replied, "The hoops will close around your foot if you are too slow."

"I can't believe I ever thought this place was normal."

"You are to continue these exercises until dark and will continue to do so everyday for the next week," Sensei said walking back to the school.

_Back in Middleton_

Kim was in her room, steaming. Ron hadn't told her where he went, and she was entitled to know. She was also upset with Chris. He had humiliated her and she had been trying to think of a way to humiliate him.

He was smarter than her in class, better in acrobatics and she didn't want to risk losing a fight. She was hoping to humiliate him all on her own, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She got out her Kimmunicator and contacted Wade.

"Wade, I need you to find out everything you can on the new kid in my class; Chris," Kim stated in a demanding tone.

"I'd love to help you out Kim, but…" Wade began to say.

"Don't give me any crap on invading personal space! He ruined the relationship between me and Ron."

"Actually, I was just going to say I'll either need a last name or a picture. I may have talents, but Chris is a common name with many roots."

"Oh…" Kim said, feeling foolish. "Okay…I'll get you a photo."

"All right, I'll do the research as soon as you send me the photo. Wade out."

"Bye…" Kim said just as the screen blanked out, "…Wade"

_Back in Yamanuchi_

Ron was dutifully continuing his training. He was doing the hoop exercise. He was cold, dirty, tired and a little ticked off.

"This is so pointless. What can I possibly learn from this?" He muttered to himself, but another part of his brain, that sounded an awful lot like Chris, seemed to respond.

"The exercises in 'Karate Kid' seemed pointless, but you remember what those exercises did for him."

"Those exercises were teaching him basic defense moves. Being able to life your feet quickly is not a fighting technique. It's more like tap-dancing."

"The movements may not be physical, but they will make it easier for you to dodge an opponent."

"Fine, you win. Just be quite, okay?"

"I'll be quite as long as you stop complaining. Don't forget it was this kind of whiny attitude that made you a worthless sidekick. People's feelings towards may change if you would just stop complaining."

"You're right…me. I have to go on, if only to prove to Kim that I don't need her."

Ron took a deep breath and persisted. He looked at the sun and saw he had an hour of light left, so he decided to spend the rest of today's training on the ladder exercise.

Ron continued the ladder exercise for a half an hour. He then felt a little tired. Not so tired he could collapse, just tired enough to want to stop. He knew he couldn't stop, so he just slowed down. He jumped into the next gap and watched the rise a foot into the air. He then calmly stepped into the next gap. Then, all of a sudden, he felt a rock hit the back of his head. He turned around to see who threw it, but he saw no-one. Assuming it was just some bug or debris being guided by the wind, he continued at his slow pace. Then he felt another rock hit him from a different direction. He turned to look at the assailant, but once again saw no-one. Then he felt another rock, and then another and another and another. He was being pelted by rocks from every direction

"ALL RIGHT!" he yelled. "All right, I'll do it at the proper pace."

And just like that, the rocks stopped coming. Not wishing to push his luck, Ron quickly continued the training. He spent the last half an hour putting all his energy into his training. When the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon, Ron went back down to the school.

When Ron got there, he saw that is was time for dinner. He went to the tray lady and tired once again to get some food. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain, though he was getting better. He found Yori and sat down next to her empty handed.

"What am I going to eat now?" he said miserably.

"The pond still has fish," Yori said with a hint of an amused smile.

"Great, more sushi."

"You have three choices, Ron-San. You can improve your skills with the chopsticks, eat sushi or starve. I advise against the latter, since your lack of food consumption will not affect the level of your training."

"You're right," Ron said with a sigh. "Well, better get fishing."

Ron went to the pond and after a few minutes, caught a fish. He was dreading to have to eat it raw, but he knew either he would live or the fish would. He knew it couldn't be both.

Just when Ron was about to eat it he saw some stray leaves and a few twigs and he had a flashback to camp Wannaweep

"_It's your turn to try Stoppable," said the camp leader._

"_Couldn't we just use matches instead?" a younger Ron asked meekly._

"_No! I showed you how to make a fire using sticks, and everyone else has done it. Now you have to do it."_

"_Fine," Ron said, defeated. He took the two sticks and positioned them on top of the leaves. He then moved his face real close to the sticks and he began rubbing them together. He put all his might into it. He kept on rubbing and all of a sudden he saw a few sparks and then the dry leaves began to burn._

"_I did it, I did it!" Ron said proudly, thinking that the camp may not be as bad as he thought. _

_He then turned to look at the others. They were just staring at him. Or, more accurately, they were staring at his hat. He put his hand up to take off his hat and see what the problem was when all of a sudden he felt his hand get burnt. He then noticed his head was getting awfully warm. He ran to the eerie green lake and looked at his reflection. He then saw his hat was on fire._

"_My hat's on fire! My hat is on fire!" He began screaming in panic, snapping the camp leader out of his shocked state._

"_Hold-Hold still Stoppable!" He began yelling, taking a blanket over the fire._

"_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"_

Ron wasn't sure whether he should chuckle at the memory or feel a shudder running through his spine. He hadn't tried to light a fire since that day, but he knew that it was the only way he could have a warm meal.

Ron gathered up the leaves and found two good sticks. He decided not to put his face to close to the sparks. He rubbed the sticks together and for the second time in his life he started a fire the way nature in intended. He felt the warmth of pride run through his body, especially around his arm. He looked down and saw a small fire on his arm. He quickly put it out with his other hand. The hairs on his arm were singed. All things considered, he felt he was definitely improving.

Ron continued his training for the next week. Never resting and always pushing himself past his limits. His senses began to heighten, his reflexes improved. He was even able to get food from the tray lady. He also began meditating. As a result he required less sleep. He began getting up before he needed and would stretch. Then the week ended and Ron waited in the courtyard, knowing that his training would change today. He arrived there a 6 AM and began meditating, nobody arrived until 7AM.

It was a young and fit woman. The looked like she had been training her whole life. She also had a fairly nice pair of breasts, Ron had to admit.

"I am Hasumi. And I will be aiding you in your training," said the woman.

"So you know Monkey Kung Fu?" said Ron, trying to lessen the tension in the air.

"I have not been given that privilege. Sensei has informed me that you will not be taught be taught Monkey King Fu. He says you are not ready to learn it."

"He said I wasn't ready to master my Mystical Monkey Powers!"

"I am not voicing my opinion, it is Sensei's, and you would do well to abide by it. Now, are you ready?"

"Yes, I am," Ron said getting into position.

"Try and block me," Hasumi said.

That's when she attacked. Ron barely saw her. She flew forward as if she were being carried by the wind itself. Her fist went towards his face, he blocked but then her knee went into his gut. He collapsed to the ground, unable to breath.

"You didn't block my knee," Hasumi stated.

"Thanks for telling my," said Ron in a forced voice. "I wouldn't have known that if it weren't for you informing me."

"I am not here for your snide remarks."

"And I'm not here to get beat up; I'm here to learn how to beat up others."

"The best way to learn is from experience. If you know how you would react in a situation you can predict you opponent's movements."

"I know, but would it kill you to hit me a little less hard?"

"Back in position! You can only avoid pain if you can block it. Here you are going to learn your own technique, your own movements. You are going to have a personalized fighting method. Now, block me."

Hasumi came at him again; he rolled out of the way. He then stood up and got into position. She kicked at him with her right leg, he seceded to try something fancy, and so he grabbed her foot and spun it. She spun easily, but then landed on her feet. Then she came with a barrage of attacks. Feet and fists were coming at him with lighting speed. He managed to block most, but he couldn't block them all.

Then Ron decided to take the offensive. He took another punch and then he attacked. He ducked down and tried to swing his leg into Hasumi's leg, hoping to trip her. She jumped up into the air avoiding his leg. They both stood up straight. Ron lunged forward, but she pushed it away, moved to his side and elbowed him. He then collapsed to his knees. The then kicked him in the face.

"Owww," Ron moaned

"You did better this time, and the better you get the less pain you'll feel. Now let's do it again."

Ron stood up and got ready once more. He had to do this for the entire week. He was also being trained with a staff. On the fifth day he was able to block all her attacks. On the sixth day, he even got a few of his own punches in. On the seventh day he was finally able to beat her.

Both Ron and Hasumi got into position. Ron attacked first, hoping gain the upper-hand. Hasumi blocked and retuned with a kick. Ron wouldn't let her get by; he punched back with as much strength as possible. This continued for hours. Finally, Ron decided to try something reckless. He jumped into the air and went over Hasumi. Then he landed on his hands behind her and kicked her with both of his legs. She went down and couldn't get back up.

"Enough!" said Sensei. "You have learned well, Stoppable-San. I believe it is time for you to go."

"Yes, Sensei," Ron said with a bow. "Thank you for everything you've taught me."

"Go now, and I hope you will return when the time is right and you are ready to fulfill your destiny."

"Good bye to all of you," said Ron. "I will miss you, and I hope to see you all again"

And with that Ron left. He walked down the mountain and started walking on the highway. He hitch hiked to the airport. He decided to make a phone call before he boarded his plane.

"Yello," said a voice o the other end of the line.

"Hey Chris, guess who," said Ron happily.

"Ron! It's good to hear from you, I was worried you might be dead."

"Nope, I'm alive and kickin'."

"I think you will be happy to know that Kim has been looking for you, she looks like she really wants to yell at you."

"It does feel good to frustrate other people willingly. So how's my moped?"

"I have totally reformed it. You will not recognize it."

"Sweet. So guess what, I'm coming home."

"Good. I have no friends here, everybody hates my attitude; apparently I'm too cocky."

"Tell Kim I'm coming, I want to confront her as soon as possible. I want her to know as soon as possible what my plans are."

"I'll tell her. I was going to send her a message anyway. See you soon Ron."

"You too, Chris."


	6. Returning home

Kim was growing impatient. Wade had yet to find any information on Chris. The first week she had contacted Wade everyday. After a little while he got annoyed and said that he would call her the instant he found out anything. It had been a week since then, and she couldn't wait anymore. She got her Kimmunicator out and called Wade.

"Have you found out anything yet?" Kim asked with desperation in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Kim. I haven't found anything," Wade responded, with a hint of confusion in his voice. "If I didn't know better I would say that Chris never existed."

"You can't find anything! I thought you were a computer genius!"

"I am a computer genius, but that doesn't change the fact that there is nothing to find on Chris!" Wade replied angrily.

"Your right, I am sorry," Kim said with a sigh. "It's just that he really pushes my buttons and I want to get even."

"It's okay; I know you didn't mean it. I don't know what else I can do though. I'll keep the search running but-…" Wade stopped short.

"What? What is it?" Kim asked.

"I-I found something. I think I found something on Chris."

"That's great. Open the file."

Kim saw Wade do a little typing and all of a sudden a rotating picture of Chris appeared. Then a file appeared below. Kim began reading.

**Subject: 76783820**

**Aka: The Crusher**

**Description: The subject was exposed radiation as a young child. His mind became unstable and as did his molecules. He now has a dual personality both physically and mentally. He has a calm, confident exterior, but when enraged he becomes stronger and craves blood. His only weak point is at the base of his skull. He should be considered dangerous at all times.**

"Yes!" Kim exclaimed "This is exactly what I was looking for. I knew there was something wrong with him."

"Uh, Kim," Wade said nervously. "You may want to continue reading"

Kim glanced back down at the file.

**Dislikes: Fruits and vegetables, baseball, the use of the word 'like' in the middle of a sentence.**

**Likes: Fantasy books, sunsets, long walks on the beach.**

**Goals: Wants to be a doctor or wrestler. In either case, his name would be Dr. Payne (Pain). He dreams of being a family man with one boy, one mutant and a beautiful wife.**

"What?" Kim asked, confused. "What is this?"

Then, all of a sudden the picture of Chris stopped rotating. It looked at Kim and then smiled.

"This is the kind of thing you hoped to find out about me," the picture said with an amused grin.

"What's going on?"

"Darn it. I just realized I didn't put 'screwing with Kim's head' on my likes. Oh well, next time."

"Wade, what's going on?" Kim asked, a little afraid

"I don't know," Wade said, rather flustered.

"Why don't you talk me?" Chris' voice said, moving in sync with the pictures mouth. "I may know an inkling about what's going on."

"Alright then," Kim said, angry that Chris had gotten the better of her again. "You tell me what's going on."

"With pleasure. Where do I begin? I was on my computer the other day and through anonymous resources, I found that someone was running a search on me. Of course, I knew whoever it was wouldn't find anything, but I felt like finding out who was responsible.

"It took a few minutes, but I found out who was searching for me. It was 10 year-old Wiz Kid. I never met Wade nor have I spoken to him, so I knew it wasn't him that wanted to find me. It didn't take me long to figure out that it was you who was trying to find stuff on me.

"I then thought about how to punish such underhanded behavior. Then it occurred to me. The higher they are the further they have to fall. So I created this little program. It went right through Wade's virus detector, even though this is technically a virus. But don't worry this will leave no lasting effects on anybodies equipment."

Kim looked a little stunned

"You went through all that just to make me look stupid for a few seconds?"

"Well, first of all, I wasn't trying to make you look stupid, I was just amusing myself. I don't do things to make people look stupid. Secondly, the original plan was far more complicated and lasting, but due to recent events, which I shall reveal in a moment, I shortened it to this."

"Whatever. Now, what 'recent events' caused you to shorten it?"

"A few hours ago, I received a phone call. It was from our close friend; Ron. He said he was coming home and he wants to speak to you about his plans."

"Plans? What plans?"

"My, my, we are full of questions today. The plans he is going to reveal to you when you two meet."

"Where does he want to meet?"

"He didn't say. I would advise you to just walk around town, or go to Bueno Nacho."

"Wait a minute! This is another joke, isn't it? You just want to 'amuse yourself'. If Ron wanted to talk to me he would call me."

"Possibly, but he may not want to talk to you as a friend. He may wan to talk to you in a more business-like fashion. And in business, calls are made by the secretary, not the boss."

"And you're the secretary?"

"No, but he doesn't have secretary, so I was his second choice."

"How do I know your telling the truth?"

"Two reasons. One, what would I have to gain? If you walk around town for a few hours, how would that amuse me? It would hardly embarrass you. And secondly, you can know I'm telling the truth because I promise, and I always keep a promise. If he calls, I'll send him to Bueno Nacho. I promise."

"You better not be lying, Chris."

"Don't worry, I'm not," and with that the screen went blank.

"Wade, you trace that or anything?" Kim asked hopefully.

"I tried Kim, I really did," Wade responded sadly, "but I got nothing. It was like he was never here. It's like the Matrix, or something. He's here in an instant and gone in a flash. If I were you Kim, I wouldn't mess with this guy. He could make your life a living hell on any computer. I know programmers and hackers and every kind of computer geek in existence, and I know that each and every one would kill to have computer skills like this guy."

"Maybe your right. For now, stop the search, I don't feel like dealing with anymore jokes from him."

"Understood. Search stopped."

"Well, I better get to Bueno Nacho."

"Good luck Kim"

"Thanks Wade. I hope Ron has come to his senses. I miss him."

"So do I Kim, so do I."

_At Middleton Airport_

Ron just got off his plane and looked around. He wasn't expecting the place to look different, but somehow it did. Maybe it was because he knew he had no one to watch his back, or maybe he was seeing everything from a ninja's perspective. No matter what the reason, it was astounding. Everywhere he looked, he saw shadows to hide in, possible weapons and areas where he would have fighting advantage.

"This is amazing," he thought "This must be what Kim sees all the time. No wonder she always acted all superior. She was, in a way."

Ron decided to call Chris, just to check in.

"Hey Chris."

"Hey, Ron. You just arrive?"

"Yep."

"Perfect timing. I just sent Kim to Bueno Nacho. She's waiting for you. By the way, I left your new and improved moped at the airport. You like black, right? Just go to the front desk and they'll give you the keys and tell you were it's parked."

"Thanks Chris."

"It's no problem, I am happy to help. Tell me if there is anything else I can do."

"Well, there is one thing. I was doing a lot of thinking theses past three weeks and I hadn't come to any solid decision till now. I want to become a hero. But I can't become one alone. I have two choices. I can join Kim again and then I'll probably just blend into the background, like I did before. Or I could ask you to be my partner."

"Me? Why me?"

"You have been there for me since I began this… let's call it a quest. You are a lot like me, so we understand each other. And you are a genius; it's always good to have a genius along on an adventure."

"Well…I don't know what to say. Thank you; I would be…honored to be your sidekick."

"Not sidekick, partner."

"No: sidekick. I don't want any attention. Besides, you deserve to get a little recognition."

"I better get going then."

"Yeah, or else Kim may get upset that you're taking so long. She's already going to have to deal with you leaving the team."

"See ya, partner"

"_Sidekick_! Bye Ron"

Ron went to the front desk and asked for his keys. When he got them he wasn't sure if they were the right keys. When he was about to ask the guy from behind the counter gave him a note and said it came with the keys. Ron looked at the note, it was short and simple.

_Yes, Ron these are your keys. That's why your name is on them._

_Chris_

Ron then looked at the keys and saw a leather patch with his name on it. He smiled, Chris, once again, knew what Ron would be thinking. He went to the airport garage and looked for his bike. He searched for fifteen minutes but couldn't find his moped. He was just about to leave and find a cab to take him home, but then noticed the buttons attached to key ring.

It had a whole bunch of different labels. There were normal ones like; alarm and opening the seat compartment. Then there were some odd ones like; camouflage, emergency flare, armor and EMP. These confused him, but another one said 'call' so he took a chance and pressed it. He heard a motor start somewhere, but it didn't sound like his motor. He turned to leave when all of a sudden a motorbike with no driver, came flying around the corner. Ron stared in wonder when it stopped directly in front of him. The bike looked nothing like his moped. It was a silvery color with black seats. It also looked so aerodynamic you would think it could fly.

"There is no way this is my bike," Ron said in an overwhelmed tone.

Ron looked back at the bike and saw another note on the bike. It was just as blunt as the last.

_Yes, this is your bike. How many times do I have to tell you that you wouldn't recognize it? I hope this note is here only as a precaution. Next time we see each other, don't tell me you didn't recognize it or I might install a bomb on it. Have a nice day. -Chris_


	7. The First Mission

Kim was at Bueno Nacho finishing up her soda, regretting her decision to come.

"I can't believe I listened to Chris!" she said, getting up to leave, "When I find him I am going to kill him!" Just then Ron walked in. "Ron!"

Kim ran up to him. Ron was half prepared to protect himself from her, incase she was still angry. And then, to his complete shock, she hugged him. After the initial shock wore off, he hugged her back.

"It's good to see you, too, Kim," Ron said kindly.

"I'm glad you're back, Ron. I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I promise, I won't be a glory hog from now on. We'll be real partners."

Then the smile on Ron's face slipped away. "Kim, I'm sorry, too, but we both meant what we said and we can't ignore that. I hope we can still be friends, but we are no longer partners."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm here to officially sever ties from Team Possible," He then took his bag off his shoulder and began taking things out. "These are the gadgets Wade gave me. Since I am no longer part of the team, I can no longer keep these things."

"What do you mean 'officially sever ties'? You mean quit."

"Well… yeah."

"What are you going to do instead? Sit around and do nothing?"

"No, I plan on having my own crime fighting organization. I plan on doing what we used to do."

"You're just going to end up getting yourself killed."

"I hope that isn't the case, but if it is at least I'll get myself killed instead of someone else getting me killed. I don't want to be someone's responsibility anymore."

"This was Chris' idea, wasn't it? You two are going to be partners in this and he will do the same thing to you as I did, but he'll do it on purpose, because he knows he can control you."

"This was my idea, and yes Chris and I are in this together, but he is my sidekick. He insisted on it. Now can we get off the subject of Chris, he is a good guy."

"Fine, how do you plan on stopping all the villains? Last time I checked, you weren't a fighter."

"The last time you checked was three weeks ago, things change."

"So tell me; what has changed?"

"While I was away, I learned how to fight. I learned how to be a hero and not some sidekick."

"So what do you want from me," said Kim with anger in voice.

"Though we are no longer partners, I hope we could be allies. I hoped that we could call on each other for backup."

"Ron, I will continue to fight for the good guys and I will not leave you if you are in trouble, but I will not fight with you. I may have said have said some mean things and I am sorry for that, but what you are doing is betrayal. And then, to add insult to injury, you ask me to be an ally. I am sorry, but we are not allies. We are merely fighting on the same side and nothing more do we have in common. Goodbye, Ron," and with that Kim left.

"How could he do this to me?" Kim thought to herself. "I may have made some mistakes, but he is overreacting. He didn't bother to give me a second chance."

"Did you deserve a second chance?" said another voice in her head. "If you guys hade been friends for all these years, you should have known something was wrong."

"But _he_ knew something was wrong, though, and he never said anything."

"Ron has never been assertive, not when it came to your friendship, and he may have tried to say something, but you've blown him off plenty of times and one of those times may have been to talk about your friendship. And if he had told you, would you have listened, or would you have said he was being stupid and continue what you were doing?"

"Still, he should have…" but her thought was cut short buy the tune of her Kimmunicator. "What's up Wade?"

"There's a Drakken problem, a cab should be picking you up right now," Kim looked up and saw a cab pulling up right in front of her. "It'll take you to the airport where there is a ride waiting to take you to your final destination.

"Here's the sitch…" Wade began to explain as Kim got into the cab.

Ron sat there for a while, thinking about what Kim said. Her reaction was as he expected. He wished it hadn't happened but it did. And he knew that it would have been worse if she found out through someone else or, even worse, if they should happen to meet in the field. He did wish that she would have accepted his offer for an alliance, but he knew better than to count on that.

Ron ordered some food and just sat there quietly and ate. Then all of a sudden his cell phone rang.

"Hello," he said quietly.

"Hey, Ron, it's Chris. I think we may have a job. Meet me at the library; I got some adventure gear plus a whole bunch of gadgets and a ride."

"I'll be there as soon as possible," Ron said quickly. He then hung up the phone, ran out to his bike, started it and rushed towards the library.

When Ron arrived at the library he saw Chris waiting for him. He had a duffel bag on each side of him, both packed pretty tightly.

"So what's up?" asked Ron. "Is there a burglary, a traffic accident or something?"

"Oh no, my friend. You're going straight to the big leagues. We will be dealing with an old friend of yours. Do you recall a mister Drakken?" said Chris with a slight grin on his face.

"I do. Do you think I'm ready to fight Drakken? It's my first mission!"

"First of all, you were ready to fight Drakken while you were part of Team Possible, what you mean to ask is if you are ready to fight Shego. Secondly, I do think you are ready, but there is only one way to find out."

"Alright, what is Drakken up to?"

"He has stolen some device which will allow him to control any electrical item. That means he can do almost anything between turning a blender on and off, crashing a plane into a mountain or even launch missiles. The possibilities are endless. Now, there is some good news. The device has an advanced locking system and it will take him hours, if not days, to unlock it."

"That's good. Now, what kind of equipment do we have?"

"Well, we have the standard gear: the suits, the grappling guns and a few smoke bombs. And then we have some things a little less standard: knock out gas, tranquilizer guns and some other weapons. Now which weapon would you like? We both get knock out gas and tranquilizer guns but there are a few physical weapons which we can chose. You don't have to use these; I'm just giving you options. There is wooden sword, it's balanced like sword would be, but it is not lethal, we also have a metallic staff and a pair of nun chucks."

"I'll take the sword; I have had some practice with it."

"Good, I've always been partial to a staff," said Chris taking out his keys and pressed the calling button, followed shortly by the screeching of tires and a car parking in front of them." I've got us a ride. Follow me, I'll take you there."

With that, Chris drove off in his car, followed closely by Ron.

_One hour later_

"Alright Miss Possible, this is your stop," said the pilot

"Thanks," said Kim with a parachute strapped to her back. She took a deep breath and jumped. She soon landed on the ground and made her way towards Drakken's new lair.

She arrived at the main entrance and saw that there were no guards. Suspecting a trap, she decided to take the ventilation route. As she made her way through the vents she heard something odd. Nothing. No talking, no sound of marching, none of Drakken's idiotic laughter, just silence.

She followed the map on her Kimmunicator and stopped over the main control room. She looked down and saw Shego sitting in a chair, completely unsuspecting. Kim tensed up, preparing for a fight. She then jumped down and landed in fighting position. Then she saw one of the strangest things.

Shego was sitting in the chair, but she was unconscious, had a black eye and was handcuffed. Kim looked around and saw guards scattered out cold across the floor and Drakken was amongst them. She then saw a man in a commando outfit and went up to him.

"Sir," she said suspiciously, "what happened here?"

The man turned around and to her utter shock, it was Ron.

"Hey, Kim," said Ron with both surprise and a big grin on his face. "Can you believe it? I beat Drakken and Shego. Chris took care of some of the guards, but I actually fought this fight and won. I can't believe I completed my first mission successfully." Chris then approached them.

"Hello, Kim," he said politely and the turned towards Ron. "I got us a ride, it'll have to jump points: one over Middleton, so you can get home and another outside the city where I will deliver the device."

"Great," said Ron, then he looked at Kim and then back at Chris. "Do you think we could get Kim on that ride as well?"

"I'm sorry, Ron," Chris said, looking a little sheepish. "There is only room for two, and even that is pushing it. Next time I'll get a ride that has room for a third incase we should meet Kim on another mission. We should get going, though," said Chris, looking at his watch. "Our ride won't wait long."

"Okay," Ron said, once again turning back to Kim. "I'm sorry, Kim. I can't tell you the whole story right now. We have a plane to catch, but we can talk back in Middleton. See ya." Ron then turned and followed Chris.

Kim just stood there with that look of shock still on her face. Her mouth was opening and closing like a goldfish. She looked as if she knew she could talk but had forgotten how. Finally, she was able to squeeze two words out.

"Ron. Won."


	8. The Unfortunate Points of Views

Kim spent her entire flight back trying to figure out what exactly happened. Not just on the mission, but in general. Just a few weeks ago she and Ron were best of friends. They would visit Bueno Nacho and Ron would shove a naco down his throat and they'd just laugh. But then Ron left for a couple weeks and he comes back thinking he can take on the world. And it turned out that it wasn't to far from the truth.

The thing that daunted Kim the most was how Ron seemed to be much more forceful and confident than before. He would always do his best when push came to shove, but he would only do it as a necessity and Kim would usually have to bail him out. Now he was doing stuff at the same level she was. He beat Drakken; he even beat Shego, something she still couldn't figure out.

"I should consider that alliance," she said to no one. "Before I was worried that he wouldn't be able to handle this kind of work, but clearly I was wrong."

Kim looked at her watch and she was amazed to see that it was 4:30 in the morning. She left for the mission at 9:00pm. It had taken much longer than it usually did for her to get a ride and the ride itself was slow. Her return flight was pretty quick, but she wouldn't make it back home with enough time to get a proper night's sleep. She curled up in her seat and hoped she could get enough sleep to get her through school. Luckily she had her school stuff with her, just in case something like this should happen.

A few hours later she was outside of school. It was an odd feeling arriving there without Ron. They had walked to school together almost everyday since they were old enough to cross the street. And now Kim was standing at the school entrance, alone. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for a day of school totally different than she had ever had; a day of school without Ron.

School started out normal. Kim went to her first class. It was Psychology, one of the few classes Ron and Kim did not take together. Kim remembered one of Ron's light-hearted comments about that class when she said he should take it.

"I don't need a psychology class telling me about mental health, I have more than enough issues to fill the books that you'll be using in class." Kim smiled at the memory and felt a little sad. She hoped that Ron's offer for an alliance still stood and that they could be friends again.

Ron's first class was cooking; a class he devoted his full potential to, and time just flew by. Before he knew it, Ron was sitting in class, waiting for the second period to start, and thinking. He just couldn't believe it. He won! He actually won. He beat two of the most feared villains in the world. It didn't surprise him that he was able to beat Drakken; he couldn't fight off a child, but Shego…Ron just kept going over it in his head again and again.

_Flashback_

Chris had lead Ron to a private airport. They walked towards a hanger and there was a man waiting at the door. He was big with brown hair and had a beard that made him looked as if he were a mountaineer.

"Hey, Chris. Long time, no see," he said with great enthusiasm. "So this is your new boss, huh?"

"'Sup, Joe? Yeah, this is Ron, we're about to go on our first mission as Team…uh," Chris turned to Ron, "What do you want to call the team? We never came up with a name or a motto."

"I don't know I never thought about it."

"I have an idea, and stop me if you don't like it, Team Stoppable. I know, it's kind of obvious and simple, maybe even a little stupid, but wait till you hear the motto. I don't know how I thought of it, but it's quite brilliant. 'Ron Stoppable Unstoppable'. No applause, just throw money," said Chris while bowing.

"How did you think of that?" Ron said in awe. "You deserve a medal for such an awesome name."

"I know. Anyway," Chris said, turning back to Joe, "We're about to go on our first mission as Team Stoppable and for such an occasion I think we deserve the best, don't you think?"

Joe smiled, "I know just what you're looking for. Follow me."

Joe took of into the hanger and Chris and Ron followed. They passed a bunch of overwhelming planes. Ro just gawked at them. Even James Bond would be amazed by these planes.

Joe then stopped. Ron was expecting a huge plane with rockets, stealth capability and all sorts of high-tech gadgetry. Instead, they stopped in front of what looked a tube with three seats on top.

"This is it?" Ron asked inquisitively "Can it even fly?"

"She may not look like much, but there's nothing like her," said Joe with a grin. In a few minutes the plane was on the air strip and Ron and Chris were strapped in and Joe was in the pilot's seat.

"So, Joe, how fast can this thing go?" Ron asked nervously.

"I don't really know; in theory, it's supposed to be fast enough to outrun rockets and not be spotted on radar,"

"What do you mean 'in theory'?"

Chris chuckled, "Unfortunately, Ron, the best rides don't come cheap."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we get to be the first people to ride this type of plane."

"There has got to be another way. How do you even know it'll fly?"

"I saw the blueprints, they make sense. There is no reason why this thing shouldn't fly."

"I hope you're right, Chris, or else we will have the shortest carrier as heroes in the world."

"Yeah, our carriers, that's what we should be thinking about, not our lives."

"I hate to interrupt, but don't you guys have a mission of some sort?" Joe interrupted.

"Right you are Joe," Chris said happily. "It's time for take off."

Joe started the plane and went down the runway. It moved a lot faster than expected. At the first bump, Ron began to whimper slightly. Chris just smiled. After a quick, yet nauseating ride, Chris and Ron arrived at their final destination.

Ron shakily stepped off the plane, and kissed the ground. "Never again, never again," he just kept repeating it over and over.

"Thanks for the ride, Joe. I'll repay you the favor one day," Chris said and then turned to Ron as Joe left. "Now that we're here, it's time to think of an infiltration plan."

"Infiltration plan? Kim and I would just sneak past the guard of go through the ventilation system."

"And that works, but I did a little research and I found that the lair is built over an underground cavern. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any blueprints for the facility. That's where your knowledge becomes priceless."

"What knowledge?"

"The lair has the same exterior structure as a past lair that you and Kim infiltrator, and blew up shortly after. I believe that the lair has been identically reconstructed down to the last detail, both outside and in, and you, Kim, Drakken and Shego are the only ones who know what the inside looks like. And last I checked Kim, Drakken and Shego aren't here at the moment." Chris then took out two maps, "These are the underground caverns, and here is the outer shape of the lair. Now, about where was the main assembly room?"

"Um…about right here," Ron said hesitantly, pointing to the middle of the complex.

"Okay, the entrance to the cavern is this way." And with that, Chris took off.

Chris led Ron to a cave entrance. It was dark, but Chris took out a couple glow sticks and gave one to Ron and continued forward. They met nothing along the way, but Ron swore he saw a rat the size of a dog. But Chris assured him that they weren't dangerous until night, they still had 4 hours; Ron was not comforted. Then suddenly, Chris stopped.

"If you're right, the assembly room is directly above us," Chris said. "Now what?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're the leader. I got us in but you're the one who went away for three weeks to learn how to fight. This is your area of expertise."

"I can't give a reliable plan unless I see where everybody is."

"I got just the thing," Chris said and began rummaging through his bag. "Here, put these on." Chris handed Ron a pair of goggles

Ron put them on and he then saw glowing figures above them. "Cool, heat vision goggles." He then scanned the room above them.

"I'm getting two odd signals," Chris said, confused. "They both have the same shape as people, but one is way hotter than is normal and the other is much cooler."

"The hot one is definitely Shego, and I'm going to guess that the cold one is Drakken. I always assumed he was blue due to some sort mishap with some experiment with extreme cold. I guess I was right."

"Okay, there are about a dozen guys up there plus Drakken and Shego. I can beat 3 maybe 4 guys, I can hold off 6, no more."

"The guards shouldn't be a real problem, neither should Drakken; Shego is the real problem."

"I actually have something for Shego," Chris said before diving into his bag again and came back out with a pair of handcuffs. "If you get these on her, you will not need to worry about her."

"A pair of handcuffs?" Ron said with a raised eyebrow. "Okay. I have a plan; we come up right in front of Shego. You hold off any guards that come at us and I'll try and get the cuffs on Shego. After that we can take out the guards. We can leave Drakken alone, but don't let him escape or get close to a computer terminal, incase he has some sort of backup plan or a self-destruct button."

"Works for me," Chris said confidently. "Let's do this."

"It just occurred to me: how do we get through the floor?"

"I'm always prepared," and for a third time Chris dived into his bag and came up with a device the size of a large button. He planted it on the ceiling of the cavern which was also the floor to the lair and the device started blinking red. Chris then backed away and Ron followed his lead. Chris then showed Ron his fingers and began counting down.

Three…

Two…

One…

BOOM!

Ron and Chris jumped through the hole immediately, hoping to catch everybody off-guard. Ron jumped directly in front of Shego while Chris jumped a little further away and was facing the guards. Shego was sitting in a chair, but popped up immediately when she saw Ron. She aimed a kick at his head, and Ron caught it. They both stood in shock and looked at each other, coming to terms with what Ron just did. Ron then snapped out of it and punched Shego directly in the eye. Shego flopped into the chair and looked stunned. Then Ron slapped on the handcuffs. Shego looked at the cuffs on her hands then looked at Ron as if he was a complete idiot. Her hands then became engulfed in fire. The handcuffs began to glow red, a sign that they would melt soon, and Ron began to back away in worry. Then all of a sudden, her fire turned off and her eyes became unfocused and finally her head fell forward and she began snoring.

Ron didn't have time to figure out what happened, because he turned and saw Chris struggling with a few guards and he had a few bruises. Ron quickly jumped in and helped him out. The guards began to fall like flies. Chris would get their attention while Ron would strike them down. Then finally the only one conscious was Drakken. On and Chris both walked up to him.

"Where is the device?" Ron said to Drakken in the most intimidating manner he could muster.

"It's over there," Drakken said pointing a finger shakily at a table. "I wasn't unable to get through the lock anyway."

Chris went over to the table to retrieve the device while Ron pushed a few pressure points on Drakken's neck and Drakken was soon out cold.

"What did those handcuffs do to Shego?" Ron asked, leaving Drakken on the floor.

"Those were simple. I just installed a heat sensor and a powerful sedative into it. If the wearer of the cuffs got to warm, the sedative would be released and knock the wearer unconscious." Chris then contacted the authorities and told them to come and get the now incapacitated villains and tried to get the two a ride home. That's when Ron heard Kim's voice behind him.

_End of flashback_

His thoughts were then interrupted by the bell. Students began sitting down, and then Ron saw Kim enter. His first instinct was to get up and talk to her about the mission. He stopped himself, though. He didn't want to seem like he was bragging or insinuating he was better than her, so he decided to let her make the first move. She usually liked to take charge.

Ron did his best not to look at her since he didn't want to pressure her. So he just focused on the teacher. This proved easier than it had in the past. All the training at Yamanuchi taught him patience and discipline, it seems. He understood what the teacher said and was able to contribute. It turned out he was smarter than he had given himself credit for. Everyone seemed impressed by his sudden increase in intellect and he couldn't help but smile proudly to himself.

Then the end of class came and lunch began. Ron was planning on talking to Kim at the end of class, but the crowd, in the rush to get the cafeteria food less than a week old, pushed both of them out of the classroom and away from each other. Ron then hoped to meet her in the lunchroom, so he rushed there as quickly as he could. He began looking around, and then he saw her. He started going towards her when all of a sudden he was surrounded by his fellow students.

"I heard what you did yesterday," said some girl that usually sat in the back of his algebra class and would ignored him. "Is it true that you single-handedly took on two dozen Shego clones?"

"I heard you Drakken put a mind-control chip on you, but you resisted its effects and put your own mind-control chips on Drakken and Shego and controlled them," said another girl.

Then everybody began telling Ron the rumors they heard that had happened at Drakken's lair. Ron looked over their heads and tried to find Kim again. He then saw her, but the joy of locating her once again quickly evaporated when he saw her face. She had an angry expression on it.

At first he couldn't figure out why she was so angry. Then it struck him: she was jealous. She was always the hero, but now Ron had stolen her thunder. Well, he wasn't going to let her make him guilty, so he began telling everybody about what happened at Drakken's lair. She then turned and walked away.

Kim heard the bell, signaling the beginning of the second period. She rushed to her class, not wanting to be late. When she arrived in the classroom, she looked for an empty seat. That's when she saw Ron. Her first instinct was to run over to him and get all the juicy details on his mission. But she decided to resist the urge. She was worried that he would take it as the bossy behavior that made him leave the group. She would let him make the first move as a sign of respect. She caught him looking at her for a second but then he turned away. She could not understand why. Did he think he was better than her, now?

Kim pushed those thoughts out of her head when the class began. She tried to concentrate on what the teacher was saying but was quickly distracted by Ron's participation. He never said anything in class before; he would sit in the back and pretend he didn't exist. Now he would answer any question he could. She then noticed, to her displeasure, he was smiling smugly.

The end of class then came. Kim knew that the crowds would force her and Ron away from each other, so she decided to head to the lunch room and meet him there. When she got there she didn't see Ron. She thought perhaps he was taking his time in an attempt to find her. She looked around for a few minutes and then she heard loud murmuring behind her. Behind her, she saw a group of people huddling around someone. After a harder look, she saw that the person in the center of the huddled mass was Ron. She couldn't believe it! He wasn't trying to find her; he was busy being adored by his loving fans! He had let all this fame and glory go to his head, like she knew it would. She was willing to forge an alliance with him, but if he cared more about fame than he did about their friendship; then let him. She gave him an angry look, and then Ron looked up and saw her angry look. He then turned back to the crow and began bragging about his exploit to Drakken's lair. She then turned and walked away.

_Author's Note: I thank everyone for their reviews, even The Infernal (though I do think you could have said it in a nicer manner). I felt that I worked hard on this chapter and I hope to get reviews telling me how I could improve my writing. I will then try my very best to do as you ask. I hope you enjoyed this chapter._


	9. The Second Mission

Ron was still a little shocked that Kim was jealous, of him, no less. He knew that Kim didn't really like to share her spotlight, but he always assumed she respected other people who were trying to do the right thing. Come to think of it, though, she never actually respected any that he could think of.

She didn't like Team Impossible, but she said that was because they charged for their services. She also disliked Will Du, but Ron had always assumed that was because he was a stuck up moron. Maybe all that he thought about Kim was just hero worship; maybe she wasn't as nice or as selfless as he had always thought.

It didn't matter to him anymore, though. He was no longer a part of her team, nor was he a member of her circle of admirers. He was Ron Stoppable, the new rising star in the hero world. No! he thought, he wasn't going to let this get to his head like everything else. It wasn't going to be the Naco incident all over again. He decided to go cool his head and go to the gym to get some training done.

Kim knew this was going to happen. She knew that Ron would let the glory go to his head. It's what he always does and it pissed her off. She couldn't tell anyone though, because she knew they would say she was jealous. Something she was so not. Just because she happened to dislike people that did the hero thing did not mean she disliked sharing the spotlight, right? Any doubts about her willingness to share the spotlight quickly left her mind as the Kimmunicator went off.

"What's the sitch, Wade?" Kim asked after Wade popped up on the screen.

"The Upperton Museum was robbed."

"What was taken?"

"Only one thing: the Amulet of Seiyuuki. It's not that valuable, but it is said to have mystical properties."

"What kind of mystical properties?"

"It can supposedly control every monkey on the planet. Some even say that, since humans are evolved from monkeys, it can control humans as well."

"Who has taken it? Wait, let me guess. Monkey Fist?"

"Nothing confirmed, but witnesses claim that the person who took it was clad in black, small and had a tail, so you're probably right."

"Any idea where he's hiding out?"

"There have been some reports about some unusual sounds coming from the caves by Lake Middleton. It seems like a good, close place for him to hide out. Do you need a ride?"

"No, after I get my stuff, I'll just get one of my parents to drive me there. By the way, does Ron know about this?"

"Not that I am aware of."

"Alright, I better go."

"Good luck, Kim."

_One hour later_

"Thanks for the ride, Mom," said Kim as she got out of the car.

"No problem, honey. It's the least I could do since you washed all the dishes after dinner yesterday. Don't be late for dinner."

"I won't be." With that, Kim slowly began to make her way towards the caves.

Ron was still at the gym, working out, and doing his very best to stay modest and not get a big head. It isn't that difficult if you put your mind to it. It was then Ron's cell phone rang.

"This is Ron Stoppable of Team Stoppable, you got a crisis, and we'll fix it."

"Nice greeting, Ron," said Chris' familiar voice, "but I am sorry to be the one to tell you that no one contacts you directly, they contact me through the website or phone number and I, in turn, contact you."

"Oh," Ron said with a pout, "okay. What do you want?"

"Before I tell you, stop pouting! I can hear it over the phone." Ron immediately put on a straight face. "Good. Now, we have a mission. Some amulet was stolen from the Upperton Museum. It's supposed to have some mystical powers or something."

"Who stole it?"

"I think you know him. Ever heard of Monkey Fist?"

"That's never good. We should find him before he does some damage."

"We got plenty of time. I did a little research and I found that some ceremony is needed. It can't be completed before midnight, and it's only 6:30."

"Yeah, but we still have to find him; and who knows how long that'll take."

"I already know where he is. He is at the caves by Lake Middleton."

"We have almost everything near Middleton, don't we? Lakes, mountains, space centers and so on. Come to think of it, do we have a volcano here?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. It's a dormant one, but a volcano none the less. But we're straying from the point. I'll meet you at the caves, alright."

"S'all good. See you there."

Ron got on his scooter and rushed out to Lake Middleton. On the road to the lake, Ron saw a car that he recognized as Mrs. Dr. Possible's. Kim, he thought. She must have arrived already. He wasn't quite sure what he should do if they meet in the middle of the mission, but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

When Ron got to the lake he saw Chris' car already there. "How'd you get here so quickly?" Ron asked.

"Let us say that I am not a big fan of roads, shall we?" Chris said with a smirk.

"Whatever, did you happen to see Kim? I think I saw her mother's car coming from here."

"Yeah, she arrived here an hour ago."

"What are we going to if we happen to run into her during the mission?"

"I suggest that we don't think about it, we'll figure out what to do when we are faced with that unfortunate scenario."

"You're right. Let's go."

"Right behind you, Ronaldo."

Ron and Chris both entered the caves and began searching for any sign of Monkey Fist and his monkey ninjas. They wandered around for about half an hour, finding no sign of them, except for a few monkey hairs and a couple of banana peals. Ron was beginning to think they were never going to find Monkey Fist, when all of a sudden he heard the howling of monkeys. Both of them rushed towards the sound.

They arrived in time to see a monkey fly into the wall next to them. In the center of the cavern Ron saw Kim being attacked from all sides. She didn't seem to be in any trouble, so he decided to do nothing for the time being.

"What should we do, Ron?"

"We make sure nobody tries to escape. Do we really want to piss her off by looking as if we're trying to take credit for her actions?"

Just as he said that, Ron noticed a monkey sneaking up behind Kim, so he rushed towards her, jumped through the air, grabbed the monkey by his tail, spun it around and finally threw it into a wall.

Kim looked at Ron angrily and said "What are you doing here, Ron!" and then struck a monkey.

"A monkey was sneaking up behind you, so I decided to take it out," then tripping a monkey of his own."

"I could have handled it!"

"I'm sorry; I assumed you wanted to survive. Next time I won't save you." He then took knocked what appeared to be the last monkey. Then, out of the shadows, stepped the figure of Monkey Fist.

"Well if it isn't the false Monkey Master," said Monkey Fist in his English aristocratic voice. "You will not stop me though. You may have found me, you may defeated my monkey ninjas, but you will not be able to…"

Then, Kim just cried out in rage and attacked Monkey Fist, beating him and screaming at him. "**_I_** found you, **_I_** defeated your monkey ninjas and **_I_** stopped you! NOT RON!" She yelled, knocking him out with one final punch. Then she just stood over him, breathing heavily.

The cave was eerily silent and tense. The tension was broken only when Chris called out "Hey, Ron, can I keep one of these? They're kinda cool."

Ron just rolled his eyes and said "No, Chris, you can't. They are dangerous."

"Come on. I'll train him and wash him and feed him. Please!"

"NO! You round up the monkeys and tie them up, I'll find the amulet." At that statement, Kim seemed to snap out of her silent rage. She then bent over Monkey Fist and yanked the amulet off him. After that she merely turned and left the cave. Ron quickly tied up Monkey Fist and went after Kim, Chris was shortly behind him. When the two got outside they heard Kim calling her Mom and asking for a ride. From the sounds of it, that wasn't possible.

Chris, at that time, took it upon himself to break the tension once more. "I could give you a ride."

Kim turned and looked at him with a look that could kill. But, realizing that she didn't really have any other choice she agreed. Chris and Kim got in the car while Ron got on his scooter. From what Ron could tell, communication seemed to be at a minimum in the car. Soon, they arrived at the museum and were met by the manager.

"Oh, thank goodness," he said with relief in his voice, "Did you bring back the amulet?" Kim went into her bag and took out the amulet and handed it to him. "I thank the three of you for bringing this back."

At that statement Kim's eyes seemed to almost burn. "_I_ brought it back! They," she said, jerking her head at Ron and Chris, "just gave me a ride."

"Yes, sorry about contacting both of you. It is museum policy to call Miss Possible if anything gets stolen. Shortly after contacting you, though, the owner of this amulet called to check up on it. It's just on loan, you see. After I told him what happened, he told me to contact Team Stoppable as well. He must have heard about Mr. Stoppable's heroic defeat of Drakken." The manager then gave the amulet a proper look over and saw that the chain was broken. "Are you responsible for the damage caused to this amulet, Miss Possible?" Kim looked at him sheepishly and nodded, and then gave Ron an angry look, which he returned. The manager just sighed. "Now I'll have to explain this to the owner. He has demanded its return to him."

Chris then raised his hand and said, "I'll bring it back to him and explain." He then took a step closer to the manager and whispered, "I kinda want to get away from these two, since they look like they're about to tear each other's heads off." They both glanced at the two teens, who looked at each other so hard one might assume they were trying to accomplish heat vision.

The manager looked back at Chris and said, "I understand." He then placed the amulet in a case, wrote down the address of the owner and handed both to Chris, who jumped into his car and drove off. The manager went inside while Kim and Ron were stilling staring at each other.

Finally, Kim burst. "You had no right coming to that mission. It was mine!"

"Yours! We were both called on this mission, _and_ it can not be seen as an object, it isn't a toy."

"You should still have stayed out of it. I was doing fine on my own."

"Maybe so, but a monkey was about to attack you from behind, and it didn't seem like you were going to be able to stop it."

"I've survived attacks before and I can do it again."

"Yeah, but you haven't done any mission stuff without me before, have you? Like it or not, Kim, I did distract enemies so you didn't have them on your tail all at once. You don't have that luxury anymore."

"I didn't need it in the first place."

"The R Factor begs to differ."

"The R Factor is a bunch of crap. It was just a way to explain the unexplainable: How do you survive your own stupidity?"

"I don't understand what you are so upset about. I didn't claim credit for the mission. It never even crossed my mind to do so."

"You didn't reject it though, did you?"

"I didn't need to. You made that quite clear."

"Pretentious moron!"

"Glory addicted witch!"

And with that they both turned away from each other. Ron walked towards his scooter and Kim just stood there. As the sound of Ron's scooter died away Kim a thought hit her. She didn't have a ride.

_Author's Note: Sorry for taking so long to update, but you can't rush art. I have a few things to say. First of all, if anybody should see any typos or something please make me aware of it. Preferably via email, so the embarrassment isn't as great. Secondly, I need to know how you want this to end. Do you want Ron and Kim to be friends at the end or something else? Thirdly, I think everyone should know that I only update when I have an interest in the story. That interest sometimes wanes. To keep my interest, I need reviews. Flames, complements, whatever._


	10. Embarrassing and Heated Moments

The exquisite morning, the next day, didn't help Ron forget his argument with Kim. It seemed they were unable to have a civil conversation anymore. What had happened? Who changed? Was it him, or was it her? Maybe she was always like that and he was to blind with loyalty no notice. Thinking about it, though, did nothing to sooth his mind, so he did his best to push it out of his head and try to get to school on time.

Due to some inexplicable miracle, not only did Ron get to school on time, he got there early. When he arrived, however, he could tell that the atmosphere was different and he knew it had something to do with him. At first he thought it had to do with him completing another mission, proving that the first one wasn't a fluke. But then he noticed people would glance at him, quickly turn away and begin to giggle. Being a 'loser' had taught him to catch on when he was being mocked. What bothered him wasn't the fact he was being mocked, it was that he done anything worth laughing about recently. Then, from seemingly nowhere, Chris appears with a mix between a sympathetic look in his face and a smile.

"Don't worry, man. I'm sure it will pass over soon," Chris said with a kind pat on the back.

"What do you mean? What will pass over soon?" Ron said, worry evident in his voice.

"You don't know? Okay, man. You are going to want to prepare yourself for the worst."

"Prepare myself for what!" Chris then pointed to a flyer on the wall and said "That."

Ron froze in horror. If a comet fell from the sky and killed him at that moment, he would consider it a blessing. On the flyer was a scanned picture of Ron from Halloween six years ago. He was dressed as Wonder Woman. He had the entire outfit on, including tiara and lasso. You could even see some toilet paper stuffed into the chest to make up for certain 'assets' he lacked. In panic, he grabbed the flyer and ripped it to shreds.

"That won't do you any good, Ron," Chris said pointing out the rest of the hallway, which was plastered with flyers. "What I don't get is; why would you keep such an embarrassing photo in the first place?"

"I didn't. It was taken by… Kim's mom!" Ron said in realization.

"'Hall hath no fury like a woman scorned,' and it appears Kim has been scorned. She really likes to hit below the belt."

Ron was filled with a feeling he rarely felt, and never acted on. Pure. Unadulterated. Rage. He stormed down the hallway, grabbed all the flyers he could reach, but they were not his primary target. He turned a corner and went towards Kim's locker. And there she was, talking to Wade, with an unusually large grin on her face.

"KIM!" Ron bellowed.

Kim turned and then smiled, "Well, if it isn't Wonder Woman'. Are you going to catch the bad guys with your magical lasso?"

"What is your problem? What kind of sick joke are you playing? You had no right, or reason for that matter, to put up that picture!"

"First of all, I have **every** right to put up that picture. I own it, and therefore I can do what I please with it. Secondly, I had nothing to do with it. It is very funny, though." Kim responded with a grin, closed her locker and walked off.

Then Ron just deflated. She had nothing to do with it? Then who did? The bell then rang and Ron found his classroom, while deep in thought about who else could have put up the photo.

"Well? Did you tell her off? I heard you yell her name, but I decided to not get close so incase you still had some steam left," said Chris, with enthusiasm.

"She said she didn't do it."

"Oh. Who else had access to it? This is something you don't want to leave unresolved. It's unhealthy for you, and if you don't do anything about it people will think you are weak."

"I don't think anyone else had access to it."

"Then it had to be Kim."

"But she said she didn't do it."

Chris raised an eyebrow and his voice filled with sarcasm. "Yeah, and Kim could never lie. She is completely honest and dependable. It's not like she would do anything inconsiderate, like lie or lock anybody in a closet."

"So you think she did it?"

"All I know is that she is the only person I can think of with both the ability and motive to do this. Can you think of anybody else?"

"No."

"Well then, I have said my share, you can draw your own conclusion."

Ron reluctant saw the logic in his words. He was now more upset with himself than he was at Kim for what she did. He had to stop being so gullible and trusting. But his pondering was cut short by the entrance of his teacher. Before devoting his full attention to the teacher he promised himself that the photo would not go without payback.

A couple of days later, the Wonder Woman jokes had died down, but not disappeared. Kim still thought it was kind of funny, but she felt a little bad for him. She may not have started the whole thing, but she certainly didn't discourage it. Something she would have to rectify.

Kim was getting ready for cheer practice when she heard a gaggle of laughter. She quickly finished putting on her cheer outfit and went to investigate. She saw the rest of the cheerleaders gathered around Bonnie holding some papers.

"What is she doing now?" Kim thought to herself, feeling annoyed.

The girls began laughing again and then Bonnie spoke up, "Oh! This is a good one: 'Dear Diary, Josh looked at me today for a really long time. He has such pretty eyes. I could stare into them for hours. If we got married I could stare into them whenever I want. I could be Mrs. Kim Mankey. On second thought I would want to keep my last name, if only for clever pun. Kim Possible sounds more heroic anyway." The girls then all burst out laughing. "I got this in my email; I wish I knew who sent it. I would like to thank them."

"Apparently everyone got one. Even my mother got one," said another girl

Kim turned redder than her hair. How did they get her online diary? It was password protected, and almost nobody knew about it. She ran from the gym in desperation, having no goal in mind. After a few seconds, she ran straight for her locker, opened it up and contacted Wade.

"Hey, what's up- Are you okay, Kim?" said Wade, noticing her intense blush.

"Wade! Somebody hacked onto my online diary. I need you to find out whom."

"Kim, I doubt anyone could hack into your diary. That thing has a security system that I couldn't hack into. Someone would have to know the password."

"Well, then check if anyone has logged onto it from another computer than my own."

"Give me one sec," said Wade, typing furiously. "Got it. This can't be right."

"What, Wade? What can't be right?"

"Well, it says it was logged on from Ron's computer. But Ron wouldn't do something like this and I doubt he could figure out your password."

"He would do something like this if he thought I was the one that posted that photo of him all over the school."

"That still leaves the password issue."

"Ron knew my password. I told it to him when I first created the diary. I wanted to show off."

"I still think it's unlikely that Ron would do something like this, even if he did think you were responsible for the photo."

Kim didn't bother to listen. She rushed from school, towards Ron's house. She was going to make him pay. No one embarrasses her. She stormed up to Ron's door and banged on it three times, waited a couple seconds and then Ron opened the door.

"Hello, Kim," Ron said coldly, but then he saw the upset look on Kim's face. "Are you okay?"

She didn't reply. She pulled back her fist and threw it forward. But her fist stopped before she hit her target, against her will. She turned around and saw Chris holding her arm.

"Violence will not solve anything, Kimberly," Chris said with a calm voice. "And if you two are going to fight, give me time to set up a camera so I can record it."

Kim pulled her arm from Chris' grip and turned back to Ron. "How dare you send that kind of information to everyone?"

"What kind of information?" Ron replied quizzically.

"My online diary, you sent it to everyone!"

"Yeah, that's why I came," Chris chirped in, "I was wondering if you had anything to do with that."

"Online diary?" Ron looked skeptical, "I haven't done anything to your diary, Kim."

"Right, and that's why Wade found out that the last person to log onto my diary was using your computer."

"And how, pray tell, would I be able to access your diary without the password?"

"You know the password. I told it to you when I first got it."

"That's bad security, you should never tell anyone your password," Chris said, interjecting once more. Both Ron and Kim glared at him. "Shutting up!"

"He is right, you know. It is bad security. I would have thought you changed it at least once."

"Well, I didn't. That means you know my password."

"That may be true, but I didn't know I knew your password and I didn't log onto your diary. Now, if you will, Chris and I were about to work on my website. I admit I got that idea from you, but your idea is not original, so don't call me a copycat." With that Chris walked past Kim, into Ron's house. "Good day, Kim," said Ron and then closed the door.


	11. The Third Mission

I would like to apologize to all of my loyal readers (or to the readers that just happen to like the story) for taking so long to update. It isn't the work that takes me forever; I just don't feel any inspiration. This could be from the lack of review from my audience. Two reviews?! Come on! Anyway, sorry for taking so long and here is the next chapter

Kim was standing outside Ron's door, seething. How dare he close the door in her face? She made up her mind that when she got home, she was going to take all her pictures of Ron and have a bonfire in her backyard. She was even thinking about finding a few curses on the internet and see if they worked. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted as her Kimmunicator went off and she quickly took it out of her pocket to respond.

"What's the sitch, Wade?" the red-head said with seriousness, eager to do something to get her mind off the backstabber that ruined her life.

"Kim, we just got a hit from some government facility. Their setting up a new security system, but they have to shut down the entire thing to do so, leaving them completely defenceless," the ten year-old responded.

"So, I'm supposed to guard an entire government facility? Alone?"

"Well, yes and no. You will be the only guard, but the entire place is dedicated to the protection of one device, so you don't have that much of an area to guard."

"Why would someone dedicate an entire facility to the protection of one device? It seems a little wasteful."

"According to the information, this device knows everything. It can access any sort of electronic device and retrieve information from it. That means it can see everything, from your emails to when you open your fridge."

"How does that make something all knowing?" Kim asked with an eyebrow raised.

"The machine is able to piece to together all the information it receives and can tell what a person has done, what they are doing, and what they will do."

"I still don't see how it can figure all that out just by opening my fridge."

"Okay, let's take another example. Let's say that a woman drives by a traffic camera at 6:26 P.M., and let's say that the women passes by that camera again, driving in the opposite direction, at 7:03. The device would see the woman drive by the second time and see that her car was riding slightly lower on the way back than on the way there. It would calculate all reasons for a woman to drive by that camera at that time. Then it takes into account what would be required to cause the car to ride lower. Then all that information plus other things, such as the woman's I.Q., her upbringing, how well she knows the area, etc, and then the device would figure out that it took her 37 minutes to buy a series of specific items. It is a little complicated, I admit, but this is explaining it simply. Just know that it can figure out anything," Wade said, trying to get Kim to understand.

"Right. Get me a ride, quick. If I've been contacted, I'll bet Ron has been contacted as well. This is my mission and I'm going to be the first one there," Kim said with determination.

"Right, Kim. I've already got one setup." Kim quickly rushed off to her house to get into her mission gear.

"Come on!" Ron said with enthusiasm. "We should get costumes. We could wear capes, and masks and boots. It would be awesome."

Chris looked at him as if he were insane. "NO! And I have three reasons as to why. One, I already feel uncomfortable in the regular mission clothes, I doubt flash costumes will make me feel any better. Two, costumes are for superheroes and super heroes have powers." Ron opened his mouth to say something. "And don't you dare say we have the power of imagination." Ron closed his mouth. "And three, capes are a hazard. You could wind up getting sucked into a jet turbine."

Ron scoffed, "Yeah, I'm sure _that_ would happen."

"I'm sure you'd prevent it with your 'power of imagination'," Chris retorted. "Have you always been this… unusual?"

"Hey! I am not the one who wanted to keep a monkey-ninja as a pet."

"Don't talk bad about the monkeys. Think about it. Put him in a little suit, teach him how to make a drink, and then you-" but Chris was cut off as his laptop beeped. "Looks like we got a hit."

"Great! What's the mission?"

"Something about a government facility and an all-knowing device. I'll give you the details after you get changed."

"Got it," the freckled face blond said, as he quickly went to change. "Get me a ride while I get my mission stuff on."

"I'm on it boss," Chris responded and began typing on his computer. "This looks like an interesting mission," he said to no one in particular.

Kim was more than happy to exit her transportation. She had been a little shocked to find a NASCAR driver and his car waiting in front of her house after she got changed. She couldn't even remember helping out anyone in the NASCAR business. But she simply shrugged it off and got into the car and the driver took off at neck-breaking speeds. When she got out she thanked the driver while still unable to remember why he owed her a favour.

After a ten minute hike, through what seemed the endless desert, she arrived at a large building with a fence along the outer wall. The entire place was deserted, as was expected. Apparently, with the security system down, personnel wasn't trusted.

Kim walked through the facility until she found what appeared to be the main control room, which had the only door that connected to the room which held the device. Kim glanced at it over and was unimpressed. It looked almost like an old telegraph machine, except fancier with a silver-coating and a few buttons and flashing light bulbs. It looked more like a child's toy than highly advanced piece of technology.

Kim began taking out her supplies. It was a sixteen hour guard duty and she wasn't planning on sitting there doing nothing. She took out a little food and began eating. Feeling more tired than hungry, she decided to save the rest of her food and take a nap. She took out her sleeping bag and lay down in it. Confident that she would hear anyone that was foolish enough to try and steal the device she quickly drifted off to sleep.

An hour later

Kim woke up to the sound of shuffling. At first she was unable to locate the source of the sound. It was then she looked up at the vent that was along the same wall as she was directly above her. The shuffling got louder and then she saw the vent's cover being removed. Then a man, dressed entirely in black, jumped out of the vent straight over her head and landed on the floor in front of her.

Kim prepared herself for the man's attack, but it never came. The man simply stood up and looked to his sides. He seemed completely oblivious to Kim's presence. He then walked forwards, towards the door that led to the device. Since the security was deactivated the door was unlocked and he merely opened the door.

The teen-heroine slowly stood up from her sleeping bag, hoping to sneak up on the man from behind. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't meant to be. As she stood up her sleeping bag audibly ruffled and the man turned around.

At first he seemed tense and ready to attack. But when he made eye-contact with Kim he froze and stood there, unmoving. Kim took advantage of his frozen state and attacked him. The man clumsily jumped back, but then got back into fighting position and seemed more determined than he was before.

The stranger was the first to attack this time and thrust is fist forward at Kim. Kim ducked and tried to kick his legs out from underneath him. He merely jumped up into the air and brought his right leg up high. The man then brought his foot crashing down, forcing Kim to jump out of the way. The two continued to attack one another. One would punch the other would block. One would kick and the other one would sidestep the attack.

At one point the man tried kicking her low, but Kim merely did a flip over his head. Unfortunately, she did not have enough momentum to complete the flip. In desperation, she put her hand on the man's head and used it to give her extra momentum. By doing so she had grabbed onto his mask and taken it off his head along with her hand.

When she turned to face the man once more she was shocked to find that he had blond hair and freckles. She froze, similarly to how he froze earlier. The man, who we now know is Ron, took advantage of the situation, similarly to how Kim did earlier. Her evasive manoeuvre, however, more elegant than his was moments ago and once again they stood at a face off.

Kim was re-evaluating the current situation. While she was the more experienced fighter, Ron knew her moves quite well and was using a style she was unfamiliar with. They seemed evenly matched. But Kim was determined to win. They both launched at each other at the same time.

Kim was fighting much more fiercely than before, and as a result so was Ron. Instead of dodging and deflecting blows, like they had earlier, they began to take them head-on. For every punch that Ron landed, Kim landed one of her own. For every kick Kim felt, Ron felt one as well.

Both began to feel exhausted. Kim was trying to think of a way to take Ron down when he used an advantage him had not taken into consideration; his weight. He flung himself forward, causing both to topple over, and with Kim on the bottom, she landed on the cold floor hard.

Kim felt Ron on top of her and saw him with his fist raised, ready to strike the final blow. Filled with fear, Kim looked up into Ron's eyes. At first they were filled with fierceness that Kim had never seen before, but as the eye-contact continued the fierceness began to fade and a gentle yet sorrowful look began to replace it. Ron slowly lowered his fist, crawled off Kim and sat down against the nearby wall. He looked utterly crushed.

"Kim, why are you here?" Ron said in a tone, totally devoid of emotion.

"I'm here to guard this device," Kim responded in her most gentle voice. Then she slowly stood up and went over to Ron. Putting a hand on his cheek, she looked him in the eye. "Why are _you_ here, Ron?"

"I came here to steal the device," Ron said in the same empty voice, though his eyes seemed to brighten up at her touch.

"Why would you steal the device?" Kim asked, confused, but keeping the gentleness in her voice.

Ron looked up at Kim with more emotion. "My information said it was stolen my terrorists and placed here. I was also told that the security system was being replaced and this was the only opportunity to steal it back." He had begun speaking in his usual warm tone once more.

"I was told the same thing except that this was a government facility and I was supposed to protect it from thieves." Kim then registered that Ron was completely alone. "Ron, where's Chris?"

Ron looked up at Kim in confusion. "H-he said that this was a one man mission. He said it was supposed to be easier for me to sneak in on my own and steal it than for the both of us."

Kim sat down next to Ron and gave an apprehensive sigh and ran her hand through her hair. "I don't get it," she said quietly. "I mean why would anyone do this? _Who_ would do this?"

Just then the device in the centre of the room began to whirr and buzz. Then, finally, there was a click and a piece of paper that came out. Kim and Ron looked at each other in uncertainty. They both stood up and went over to the machine. Ron and Kim leaned forward to look at the small piece of paper. The words were simple enough. It was the meaning that puzzled them, for on the paper stood two words:

Answer:

Chris

Before either of them could say anything on the matter, the device began to whirr and buzz once more. Then, once again, the machine clicked. At first nothing happened, but then there was a second click and an explosion was detonated on the inside, the shockwave threw both Ron and Kim back, straight into the wall and darkness quickly consumed them.

Authors Note: I know what you all are thinking. 'It was obviously Chris'. If you are not thinking that I would be very happy, because I did not want anyone to know until now. My main goal, though, was not to hide the culprit from you, but to hide his reason(s). I have been writing from chapter one just so I could write the next chapter. To me, the next chapter will be the most interesting one. I will get the next chapter up as soon as I feel inspiration. But inspiration is attracted by reviews. They don't even have to be for this chapter. Just tell me what you think. Tell me how to improve my story, or my writing in general. I write so my readers can enjoy it. If you're not happy with my story, I am not happy with my story. I am willing to repost chapters for any reason. Big mistakes, small mistakes, it doesn't matter. (I find it troublesome to reread my writing, I just wind up skimming over it because I know what I meant to write, but I don't necessarily know what I wrote). So in short: REVIEW! Thank you.


	12. All Revealed

Ron woke up and stared at a charred ceiling. He sat up and put his face in his hands. He had a terrible headache and was trying to remember what happened.

'_The mission, fighting, an explosion…'_ the memories flew through his mind. Then his head snapped up, causing quite a bit of pain which he ignored, and began looking around the room. "Kim!"

Quickly scanning the room, Ron saw her lying against the far wall. He rushed over to and began checking to see if she was okay. He checked her pulse, which was fine; he made sure she was breathing properly, which she was; and he checked her for any wounds, of which she had none, except for a few bruises.

After making sure she was okay, Ron was able to calm down enough to remember what happened. It didn't take long before another name crossed his mind, thought of in a much less favourable manner than the former name.

"Chris," Ron hissed; anger and vengeance apparent in his tone. "When I get my hands on you I'm going to-" but he was cut off as he heard another voice.

"Ron," Kim uttered weakly. She was still a little shaken from the explosion, and, and like Ron, it took her a while to remember what happened. She then suddenly sat up and unknowingly mimicked Ron's previous word. "Chris," was said once again in the same manner Ron had said it.

"I know, I feel the same way," Ron said, causing Kim to suddenly turn her head and looked at Ron with concern.

"Ron," Kim repeated, having momentarily forgotten he was there. "Are you hurt?"

"Physically, I'm fine. My pride, on the other hand, is not in the same condition. You?"

"Same. What do we do now?" Kim asked uncertainly, not used to having her pride wounded through a physical attack.

"I'll tell you what we'll do!" Ron said with a fire in his eye. "We are going back to Middleton and kick Chris' ass from there to Hell, and _then_ we'll start the real torture."

Kim chuckled. She wasn't sure if she was chuckling out of amusement or maliciousness. Either way, it made her feel better.

"I missed your jokes," Kim said with a smile, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Who wouldn't?" Ron responded with a grin, also hoping to lighten the mood. But it didn't last.

"I guess we should get back to Middleton to kick his ass then."

"Yeah. How are we going to get there?" They both looked stumped until a new voice filled the room.

"You don't need to worry about that at the moment." Kim and Ron looked to their right and saw that a section of the, apparently, solid wall had slid aside and revealed a doorway with Chris standing in it, his usual grin on his face. "Come on. We need to talk," said and began exited through the doorway, gesturing for Ron and Kim to follow.

They were both unsure what to do, but since Chris didn't seem to be waiting for them to follow; they quickly, yet cautiously, got up and began to follow. Unlike the rest of the building Ron and Kim had seen, the rooms beyond the hidden doorway were extravagant. They passed a large gym, with all sorts of training equipment and a rather large pool. They then past a room which Ron stared at in awe and amazement. It had a large television screen on the far wall and a number of game consoles attached to it. There were also shelves filled with games and films. And to top it all off there were arcade games lining the other walls.

Chris looked at Ron and chuckled and looked at Kim. "This is definitely the most entertaining room, but, unfortunately, I think Ron might be too distracted if we had our conversation here."

Kim looked back at Chris. "What conversation? What is going on?" Kim asked angrily.

"Patience is a virtue," Chris said, with a sign of amusement in his eye.

Chris continued leading them until they stumbled upon a library. It was awe-inspiring. It was about half the size of the school auditorium, and the ceilings were just as high. From the floor to the ceiling, there was nothing but shelves with books on them (think 'Beauty and the Beast'). Chris directed Kim and Ron towards some chairs by the fireplace.

"Sit," he said, pointing towards the chairs. They sat and looked at him. He merely sat down as well in a big easy chair and looked back at them with a smile on his face. They continued to stare at one another until Ron finally snapped.

"What do you want?! Why did you do this!?" Ron yelled, clenching his fists. Chris' face, suddenly turned serious, but he didn't say anything. "Tell us why," Ron repeated.

Chris took a deep breath and looked at them angrily, "I come from fifteen years in the future. In my time you two turned to a life of crime, and have caused nothing but pain and suffering for thousands of people. I am here to prevent you from ever doing that." The silenced returned, just as tense as it was earlier.

"Did- Did we really turn to a life of crime?" Kim asked quietly. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer. Chris looked at her for a few seconds before he started laughing.

"Of course not!" he said with an even larger grin on his face. "At least, not to the best of my knowledge. Then again, I'm not from the future, so what do I know? But you should have seen your face" he made a shocked expression, "'Did- Did we really turn to a life of crime?' Priceless." he continued, still laughing.

"You think this is all a joke?" Ron said, yelling once more. "Tell me why you betrayed us."

"Betrayed you?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, you betrayed us. Why?"

"Oh, Ronald. You poor simple creature. Betrayal implies that I was on your side at one point."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, now feeling more uncomfortable than angry.

"I mean; from the moment we met, neither you, nor Kim, have made a move that I didn't plan."

"What do you mean, 'from the moment we met'?" Kim said, now feeling just as uncomfortable as Ron.

"I mean it exactly as it sounds. From the moment we met you both have done things the way I wanted you to do them. I knew how to get Ron to like me. I knew how to get you to hate me." He turned to Ron, "You like people with attitude, as long as that attitude isn't directed towards you. You also like people who can do amazing physical feats." Chris turned back to Kim. "You hate it when people out do you and when they don't give a damn about your name and reputation."

"So?" Ron said, trying to defend both Kim and himself. "Everybody knows that, it didn't take a genius to figure that out."

"No, you're right, it didn't. What was difficult was to get you to choose me over Kim. I figured that the sidekick thing was a tenderer subject than either of you let on. I will admit that I wasn't sure that I could pull that off, but 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'."

"So you split me and Ron up, big deal. That doesn't make you a puppet master." Kim said with spite in her voice.

"Split you up? You think that's all I did? Tell me, Kimberly, my attempt to smooth things over between you and Ron, did it help, or did it piss you off even more?" He turned to Ron, "And, Ronald, where did you get your 'brilliant' idea to create Team Stoppable?"

"You did all that on purpose?"

"Of course. I also knew that Ronald would go to Yamanuchi, since he didn't feel he was strong enough to fight on his own. That gave me some alone time with you, Kimberly, allowing me to upset you even more."

"Yamanuchi? Why would you go to Yamanuchi if you needed to become a stronger fighter?" Kim asked, looking quizzically at Ron.

"Oh, I forgot," said Chris, feigning embarrassment and turning to Ron. "You haven't told her about your little ninja school." He began shaking a parental finger at Ron "It's not very nice keeping secrets."

"Ron, what does he mean 'ninja school'?" Kim asked looking more and more confused,

"Hey! _I _am in the middle of _my_ story. Ron can tell his later."

Ron looked up at Chris "What more is there to tell?" he asked. "I came back and you teamed up with me and we fought bad guys together. Then you waited for the opportunity to attack me and Kim."

"Once again, you two underestimate me. How long did it take you to get a ride to Drakken's lair Kim? And Ron, wasn't it odd that we arrived after Kim, when you both received the mission and both you live in the same town as the caves where the trouble was? And I wonder where Drakken got that device or where that amulet came from."

"You gave Drakken that device? And you told Monkey Fist about the amulet?"

"No. If I did that, it would imply I was working with them. I don't work with anybody. Drakken heard about the device and 'stole it' from me. And I just needed to create a fake legend revolving around the amulet I gave to the museum and Monkey Fist came a runnin'. You have surprisingly stupid enemies."

Kim began speaking again. "Was it you who sent my diary to everyone and put up photos of Ron's… costume?"

"Oh yeah! I had forgotten about that. After that little squabble you two had, I saw you both regretted what you said, and I couldn't have you two apologizing to each other. That was fun." Chris began looking into space with an amused look on his face.

"And then you created this fake mission to bring us both here. You set us up so we would fight each other so when that machine blew up we would be so exhausted we would be unable to survive."

"Wrong again. I thought you guys were supposed to be smart. If I wanted you dead, you would be. But I didn't, so you're not."

"Then what was the point of having it explode if it wasn't meant to kill us?"

"It was signalling the end of the game. And I won." Chris grinned.

"You won?" Ron looked perplexed "Won what? What was your goal?"

"There was no goal."

"Then why did you do it?!" Ron was beginning to feel frustrated.

"Amusement."

"AMUSEMENT?! How could you do something like this out of AMUSEMENT?!"

"Because people are easy to manipulate. It doesn't matter if it's a man or a woman, an adult or a child, or if it's a garbage man or a president. I could make them do what ever they want and they would think it was their idea. That gets real boring, though. Then, one day, I saw you two in the newspaper, and it hit me. People are easy to manipulate, but what about people who put their lives in their friend's hands? How difficult would it be to turn two trusting people against each other? A feat like that would require cunning and genius. Qualities I have. Don't worry, though. I'm not some evil mastermind, plotting to take over the world. Doing that would take to much effort. And if I ever need anything, I can get some poor sucker to give me every dime he has."

"Why tell us this?" Kim said, feeling annoyance towards his arrogant attitude. "What's the point?"

"Throwing some food and heating it up isn't a grand accomplishment. You don't feel pride if you can microwave a hotdog well. But if you cook a grand feast fit for a king, you want everybody to know. Manipulating regular people was like microwaving to me. You, though, were my grand feast."

"So, what now? You kill us? You tell the world how you made fools of us?"

"Nothing so dramatic. I was thinking more along the lines of me leaving and you guys going back to Middleton to do what you please."

"You did all this to us and you just want to leave? What makes you think we'll let you?"

Chris' amusement seemed to grow. "I've predicted every movement you two have made up until now. What makes you think I haven't already prepared for your next one?"

"We'll see won't we?"

With that, both Kim and Ron lunged at Chris. Chris merely ducked out of his chair with his smile still on his face. That alone pissed the two teens off, but what really got to them was when Chris clapped his hands twice and the surround system began playing the 'James Bond' theme. They attacked Chris again, throwing punches and kicks at him. He would merely block, duck or sidestep them, and all the while he hummed along with the music. They tried kicking him at the same time but Chris caught both feet and knocked the two over.

"This has been fun and all," Chris raised his hands "but I'm going to go." And with that he clapped his hands twice more, and the room went pitch black. About thirty seconds later the lights came back on and Chris was gone. Kim and Ron were not happy.

"I can't believe he manipulated us!" Kim shouted to no one in particular.

"And he did it so easily," Ron said in a much more tender voice. After a short silence, he spoke up again. "Kim, I'm sorry. I was the one that left. It's my fault this happened."

"No, Ron, it's my fault. I _did_ treat you like a sidekick, and you always worked like a partner."

"Let's say it was both our faults," a grin evident in Ron's voice

"Agreed," Kim responded with the same amusement.

"Hey guys." Chris's voice caused them both to tense up. "Don't worry, this is a recording, I'm not actually here. By this time you two have made up and become friends." Kim and Ron felt very uncomfortable that Chris knew that they would do that as well. "I just want to put a certain fear at ease. You two were not tricked or manipulated into becoming friends again. You did that yourself, I just read you guys well enough to know you would. The thought probably wouldn't cross your mind for the next couple of days, but when it did, it would drive you out of your skull. Just thought I'd let you know. Bye." The surround went silent. Just as Ron and Kim began o relax again the voice spoke again. "P.S. feel free to take whatever you want from here. It's all legally mine." Ron's eyes sparkled at the statement. "But I don't think Kim trusts me enough to think that I have left this place unguarded. I swear I have. Bye again." With that the sound went off for a second time.

Ron looked at Kim with pleading eyes, trying his best to mimic her Puppy Dog Pout. Kim looked back at him and sighed. "One movie," she said. Ron cheered and ran back to the room with all the movies.

After Ron made his choice, which took a really long time since he could choose only one movie, he and Kim left the complex. When they got out of the building, Kim contacted Wade and he contacted a ride. He said it would arrive shortly.

"So…" Ron shifted his weight, uncomfortably. "I guess this means Team Stoppable is finished, huh?"

Kim raised her head. "Yeah, I guess it does."

"Kim, I was wondering, does Team Possible need a sidekick?" Ron asked hopefully.

"No," Kim said bluntly. Ron's head sank. Then Kim smiled, "But I do need a partner."

Ron looked back at Kim and smiled. He then saw their ride approaching. It was a monster-truck. Ron offered Kim his hand to help her into the giant car. _Maybe things could go back to the way they were,_ Ron thought as Kim accepted his help. Instead of sitting down, like he expected her to, she turned around and offered her hand to help Ron up. _Maybe things can become better, _he thought as he accepted her help. Neither of them, at the time, realized how embarrassing it was going to be driven into town in a monster-truck with a bumper sticker that said 'If the truck's a rockin', don't come a knockin'.

Authors Note: I guess this is the end. I do hope to get some reviews about this. I don't care if some one has already told me the same thing in another review; I would like to hear it again. If people want, I could write an epilogue, but that would require a large number of reviews, requesting it. Also, if anyone thinks I should rewrite certain chapters, because they lack detail or something, tell me. Honestly, I prefer to know my work is faulty and fix it, than to think my work is fine and have think ill of my writing skills. Anyway… REVIEW!


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